Let The Hard Times Roll In
by shana852963
Summary: Sequel to Complications of Life. The Recess gang continues to deal with the stresses of being a teenager, and try to balance their own troubles to still remain the tight knit group they've always been.
1. Chapter 1

_Vince's POV_

"Come, on…Answer," I mumbled to myself as I tried Gretchen's number for the fifth time that morning. I knew she wouldn't pick up; I had been at this for two weeks now, but I had to try.

As I suspected, I got nothing, and I tossed down my phone.

Summer had just started, and ordinarily, I'd be hanging out with the gang, but right now T.J. and Spinelli were on a date, Gus was busy with Lauren and his new twins, and Mikey had left yesterday to spend time with his parents up in Maine, and wouldn't be back for a week. So I was left alone.

"Vince, you've been lounging around all morning," my dad said, walking into my room with a pile of laundry. "Get a jump on it. You're only young once."

"There's nothing to do," I mumbled.

"Nothing to do? Read a book, paint a picture, start your summer work, or here's a real suggestion: get a job."

"Noooo, not the job talk again," I moaned. But I knew it was unavoidable.

"I'm just saying," my dad said, sitting down next to me on the bed. "You start college in two years, and while I know you're trying to get all sorts of sports scholarships, it would still be nice if you had some money saved away."

"I thought you and mom made me a college fund when I was little, remember, that's where you made me put all my birthday money?"

"Yes well, tuition price has sky rocketed since then," my dad explained. "Anyway, it's just a thought. And I would think even working would beat laying around all day."

"Okay, fine, I'll look for a job," I sighed, though in actuality I had no intention of doing any such thing.

"Good for you," my dad said, patting me on the shoulder as he left my room.

I sat up. I guess I could go shoot some hoops at the park… I quickly got dressed and grabbed my ball. I was just about to put my phone in my pocket, when I figured I might as well give Gretchen one more try. What could it hurt, right?

A lot, actually. Every time she didn't answer, I felt worse and worse. I can't believe I had been so stupid and let her get away…

I was so lost in my own thoughts, that I almost didn't here the 'hello' on the other line.

…

AN-Short first chapter, I know, but I'm just getting things started.


	2. Chapter 2

_Gus's POV_

"Come on, stop crying," I said, bouncing my baby daughter, Sarah, lightly in my arms. "Come on, don't cry for daddy."

"Is she all fed?" Lauren asked, walking into the babies' bedroom with our son, Brent. "I just nursed him."

"She won't stop crying long enough to take the bottle," I said, still trying to soothe Sarah. Just then, after nearly twenty minutes of bawling her eyes out, she stopped, and I took the opportunity to stick the bottle of formula into her tiny mouth.

"What time do you work until tonight?" Lauren asked.

"Eleven," I replied. "And then I'll come right back."

"Don't worry about it," she said. "You need to spend time with your mom. I've got these two covered for tonight."

"You sure?" I asked.

"Yeah; they _did_ grow inside of me for nine months."

"Just checking," I smiled. When Sarah finished her bottle, I placed her in the crib the twins shared. Seeing as we didn't know we would be getting two babies, we had only set up the nursery for one, so until we saved up enough for another crib, they would have to settle with this arrangement; we had blown most of what we had saved on an extra car seat to take them home.

"I made their first check-up this morning," she continued. "It's for next Friday at ten, do you think you can make it? I tried to book it for when you wouldn't be working."

"Sounds good, I actually have that day off. So, I was thinking, how about you and I go out?"

"Go out?" she repeated. "What? With the twins?"

"No, just me and you. We haven't gone to a restaurant since our double date with T.J. and Spinelli, and that was months ago. Come on, it'll be good for you; you've been cooped up here forever."

"But I told you yesterday, my aunt has to go away on a business trip, so who would baby-sit?"

"My mom."

"Your mom? Hmm, I didn't even think of that. Well, I guess if your mom is alright with it, we can go out."

"Great." I looked at my watch. "Sorry, babe, but I need to get to work. I'll call you during my break."

I kissed her on the lips, and then kissed each of the twins, and headed out to my car.

I worked for nearly ten hours, washing cars and fixing flat tires. By the time eleven rolled around, I was thrilled to get out of there. I figured me and my mom could watch some movie and make popcorn, like we used to do when I was younger. Yeah, she'd like that; I just hoped she hadn't gone to sleep already…

Luckily, I saw the light on when I drove into my driveway.

"Hey, mom," I said, walking through the front door, tossing my keys aside. "Want to watch a movie? I found that one about the guy who finds the magic remote under my bed last night, and it looked pretty-Dad?"


	3. Chapter 3

_Gretchen's POV_

I was really loving my life here at MIT. I had great classes, the teachers were some of the smartest people I've ever met, and my roommates, while not perfect, were at least friendly.

I was sitting on my bed, reading over my Engineering 101 book, when I heard my phone go off. Again. Vince had been calling me non-stop since I arrived at MIT. I had talked to Spinelli about it, and apparently, he had finally realized that I hadn't kissed Lawson that day in Kelso's.

I was glad he finally came around, but I was still mad at him. First, he hadn't believed me about Lawson, and then he had kissed that Franci girl right in front of me! Was I supposed to just forgive him?

But the thing was, even though I was furious at him, I _did_ want to forgive him. Despite everything that had happened, I still loved him.

I looked down at my phone, and sure enough, it was Vince's name. Taking a deep breath, I answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello? Gretchen? Is-Is that you?"

"Yes, Vince, it's me."

"I-I-I don't even-Gretchen, look, I'm sorry. I don't know why I was so stupid to believe that you would actually cheat on me with Lawson. I was-I was just scared of losing you, I guess. I love you."

"Then why did you kiss Franci right in front of me, Vince?"

"Because I was stupid! So, so stupid! It was horrible, I know, and you have every right to hate me-"

"I don't hate you."

"You don't?"

"No. Am I mad at you? Well, obviously, but you know what? You mean ten times what Lawson meant to me. That's why after he kissed me I pulled away. That's why it hurt so much when you started going out with Franci."

"Franci's history. She meant nothing to me. Gretchen, do-do you think we could work things out?"

"Well, I want to," I said slowly. "But, I don't know if we should, just now."

"Oh."

"I appreciate the fact that you tried so hard to get in touch with me, Vince, and I know it was childish to dodge your calls for so long, but I'm still at MIT, and your back home. And trying to do a long-distance relationship right now just doesn't seem like the best thing."

"I guess you're right."

"Summer semester ends in about a month and a half," I told him. "I'm coming down for a few weeks before fall semester starts up. Maybe, maybe we can sort things out then."

"Gretchen, I'm really sorry."

"I know, Vince."

We hung up, and I picked up my bag. I had class in ten minutes, and I wanted to get a good seat. I felt a little better after Vince's call, but still, I feel a little empty knowing I would have to wait until term ended to see him again.

I walked through the campus until I got to my physics class. It was my favorite class, but could barely concentrate. I kept thinking about Vince.

I really hoped I would get through this semester…


	4. Chapter 4

_Mikey's POV_

"I'll take one of your Summer Delights, please," I told Mr. Kelso.

"You know, Mikey, it's really great to have you back," he said as he began spooning ice cream into a bowl. "I missed my favorite customer."

"And I missed you too, Mr. Kelso. And your ice cream."

"Well, this one's no charge," he smiled.

"Why thank you. Mmmmm, I think this is better than your Christmas Concoction."

"Enjoy it," Mr. Kelso sighed. "I'm afraid those haven't been selling too well. Only you and a few others like them."

"What? Who couldn't like the delicious blend of guava, cherry, pomegranate and apricot sherbets with chocolate syrup?"

"Many people, unfortunately. I don't think I'll be bringing them back next summer."

"Oh no!"

"Don't worry about it now, son," he chortled. "Ah, look, here comes another customer who appreciates the Summer Delight."

"Yeah, lay two of those on me," a large girl said, taking a seat at the counter next to me. "Heavy on the chocolate syrup."

This girl looked familiar, but I didn't think I had ever met her…Wait a minute; it couldn't be…"Kirst?" I said. "Kirst is that you?"

"What's it to you?"

"It's me, Mikey, from Third Street Elementary. Don't you remember me?"

"Mikey? Well of course I remember you, big guy. You were the only one outside my little gang that didn't make me want to hurl. How you been?"

"Um, pretty good," I replied, deciding to leave out the whole rehab thing right now. "What about you? I heard you went to Maxwell Springs."

Maxwell Springs was a reform school a short ways out of town. From what I had heard from kids at school, she got sent there right before middle school for punching her teacher in the gut for not letting her eat a winger dinger in class.

"Eh, I'm fine, I guess. Springs isn't that great, though; they've got a terrible lunch menu, but the crowd's pretty decent."

"Here you are," Mr. Kelso slid her two ice creams in front of her and she immediately began chowing down.

"We've got a pretty good group of students at my high school as well."

"Hey, is it true that your little pal Griswald knocked up that one girl that used to hang upside down?"

"She goes by Lauren now, and yes, she was pregnant, but I don't really appreciate your terminology. Gus was in love with her and he made one mistake, which ended up becoming a very happy miracle."

"Yeah, whatever," she shrugged. "Didn't know he had it in him."

"Do you still hang out with your friends from elementary school?"

"Nah; they all either moved or turned into jerks."

"Well, I'm sure you made many new friends at your new school."

"Not really; most people there are just interested in drugs or sex."

"Oh. Well, we could be friends then!"

"What, are you nine, Blumburg?"

"We were friends at Third Street," I pointed out. "Why can't we be now?"

"Hmmm, I guess I could try hanging around you again," she decided. "What do you do for fun?"  
>"Well, after I finish my ice cream, I was going to go to the bakery and smell the fresh cakes and bread. If you'd like, maybe we can split a pie?"<p>

"Now you're speaking my language."


	5. Chapter 5

_Spinelli's POV_

"I can't believe your making me do this," I said angrily to my mom. "I thought we got past this years ago!"

"Sweetie, it's just for a week," my mom told me, pulling into the community center. "You'll have fun!"

I highly doubted that. School had just let out, and as a 'surprise' my parents had signed me up for…etiquette classes.

"Is this about me burping the burping the theme song to _Beanie McChimp_? Because Joey was the one who-"

"Look, Spinelli, you'll be going off to college in just a couple of years, and then into the real world. And as much as I love you, well, pookie, you need to have proper manners to get by in some situations."

"Like When? When I dine with the queen? Look, mom, whenever she returns my phone call, I promise I'll-"

"For job interviews, business dinners, parties-"

"Mom, I highly doubt any high school party would be concerned with manners."

"Just try it out," she insisted.

"You could've at least let me drive," I muttered.

"Well your car won't be fixed until Monday, and I have a hair appointment in ten minutes, so I couldn't loan you this one. Now scoot on out of here or you'll be late!"

I got out of the car and dragged my feet into the building. The etiquette class was the only one going on, so as soon as I arrived, I was pointed to the room on the left.

When I entered, I immediately felt sick to my stomach. There were about a dozen small, round tables set up with pink tablecloths and doilies. Classical music was coming out of the outdated stereo by the window, and the girls that were there already were standing in a circle, giggling like a bunch of air-heads. Great.

"Hello, young lady, may I ask what your name is?" said a woman, who I guessed was the teacher.

"Spinelli," I replied.

She looked at the clipboard in her hand. "Yes, yes, Ashley. Well, we'll be starting in just a few moments. Please feel free to mingle with the others."

I began to correct her and to tell her never call me Ashley, but she turned around to greet another girl that had entered.

Well, there was no way I was going to associate myself with those airheads, so I decided to sit down at one of the tables and wait for this to be over.

"Okay, ladies, please find your seats," the teacher said loudly.

There was a scramble to get a seat. I guess those girls didn't take too kindly to my scrapped up jeans and blue tank top because they avoided me, which was fine by me.

"Okay, class, the first thing I want to do it-"

"Excuse me, I'm here, I'm here," said a voice, and the as the door opened, I began to hate this place even more than I already did. For that voice belonged to Ashley Albuster.


	6. Chapter 6

_T.J.'s POV_

Ah, Summer. A recess I can have even at sixteen. I can sleep into whenever I want, go to bed at whatever time pleases me. Yup. It's a pretty sweet deal.

I finally woke up this morning at twelve, and I was feeling pretty hungry, so I headed into the kitchen, hoping my mom saved me some breakfast.

"Morning, honey. I thought you would never wake up," my mom greeted me, sliding a plate of eggs in front of me.

"I would've slept later if Mrs. Wildman's stupid dog hadn't woke me up. Mmm, good eggs, mom."

"Do you have any plans for today?"

"Well, Spinelli's at some etiquette class her parents made her take, so not yet. Maybe I'll go swing by Gus's and see if he needs any help with the twins."

"Actually," my mom said, handing me a flyer. "I thought this summer might be a great opportunity for you to do some community service. You know, give a little back."

"Third Street's Big Brother Big Sister Organization," I read from the flyer. "What the heck is this?"

"It's something that the elementary school just started. A lot of the younger children there don't have any real mentors in their lives. This would give you the chance to help out a child and be a role model."

"Mom," I moaned. "It says here that most of the kids would be kindergartners. You can't stick me with one of those for the summer!"

"I already signed you up," she said simply. "Just give it a try for a few weeks, T.J.. Or you know, Flo did give me the number for those etiquette classes…"

"I'll go."

….

I pulled into Third Street's parking lot later that morning. Since it was summer, the place looked empty. I strolled onto the playground, looking around nostalgically at Old Rusty and the swings. Man, we really do grow up fast...

"Well, well, well, if it isn't Mr. Detwiller," said a voice, and I turned to see an aged principle Prickly walking over to me.

"Er, hello, sir," I said. "I'm here for that Big Brother Big Sister thing, and I thought I would just look around."

"Yes, I saw your name on the sign up."

"Um, sir, not that I'm not thrilled to see you, but, I thought you were retiring this year."

"Lousy school board pushed me for another five years," he replied. "Couldn't afford to replace me."

"Oh."

"Come along, then, let me get you to our program."

He led me into the school.

"How's the high school he asked?" as we made our way through the hall.

"Pretty good."

"Is your little gang still together?"

"Well, we were until last year. Gretchen Grundler is at MIT now."

"Oh yes, I remember Grundler. Well, can't say I'm surprised, she was brilliant. Here we are, right through those doors. I'd take you in myself but I'm waiting for a phone call from the superintendent. Goodbye, Detwiller. Good to see you again," he added.

I watched my former principle head around the corner as I opened the door to one of the old classrooms.

I was greeted by the sounds of nearly twenty screaming kindergarteners, running around like crazy.

This, was going to be a challenge.


	7. Chapter 7

_Vince's POV_

After my talk with Gretchen, I felt a little better. But still, I wasn't going to be truly happy again until her and I were back together again…if that ever happened again.

I had to head to the high school that day to start track conditioning for the next year. It wasn't the ideal way to spend my day, but it was better than sulking around.

I had just left my house and had begun walking towards the school when I heard a car horn blare behind me, and I turned around to see T.J. driving up to me.

"Hey, man. Need a lift?"

"Yeah, thanks," I said, climbing into the front seat. "I have to got to the school for track."

"Already?"

"Yeah, coach is determined to have all of us get to finals this year."

"Good thing baseball conditioning doesn't start until the end of the summer."

"I guess. By the way, I finally got a hold of Gretchen."

"You did?" he said. "That's great!"

"Slow down there, Teeje, we didn't get back together."

"Oh," he said. "Well, her answering is a start, right?"

"Yes. She's coming down in two months, and we're going to try to fix things up."

"I'm sure it will all work out," he assured me.

"Thanks," I said as he pulled up in front of the school. "I'll talk to later."

Since I had gotten dressed at home, I didn't need to go into the locker room, so I just headed out to the track.

"LaSalle, just in time!" coach yelled as I walked over to the rest of the team. "Let's go! We're doing a mile run for warm up!"

I led the mile, as usual, finishing in about five minutes, but my mind was still focused on Gretchen, and it stayed that way throughout the entire day's practice.

"Vince," coach said to me as we took a water break. "You're doing good so far. I need you to keep it up."

"No problem, coach," I said, taking a long drink.

"Next year is going to be your most important," he continued. "It's when schools start to notice you. Given any thought to where you want to go?"

"Um, somewhere within state."

"I'd say you can get out of state, easy, if you keep this up," coach told me. "Which is why I signed you up for an Exhibition run at the end of the summer."

"What's that?"

"Top runners from all over the country will be there to compete, and all sorts of scouts from colleges will be there. I've had athletes in the past go there and get guaranteed acceptance into their dream schools."

"Sounds cool. Where is it?"

"This year it's being held in California. You'll fly down with me at the end of July to register and train in the stadium, and then you'll be coming back day after school starts. You'd be excused from that one day, of course."

"Wait, so I'd be gone pretty much all of August?"

August was when Gretchen was coming down, and I knew her new semester would be starting before I got back. If I did this Exhibition run, I'd miss my chance to see her.

"Yes. But LaSalle, this is your future we're talking about here. Talk it over with your parents; you'll need their permission, and get back to me as soon as possible."

He blew his whistle and instructed us to start working on our hurdle run.

Now I had a choice I had to make, and it couldn't be harder.

Gretchen or my future?


	8. Chapter 8

_Gus's POV_

"Dad?" I said, slowly stepping into my house.

My dad, who I hadn't seen in months, was sitting in the living room with my mother.

"Gus," my mom said meekly. "Come sit down."

"Why's he here?" I asked, frowning.

"Just please sit down," she said again.

I sat down as far away from my dad as possible, staring hard at him.

"Gus," he started. "I'm coming back to live here."

He was what?

"I-I need to be back with my family, and-"

"What, after four months, you think you can just walk back in here?" I yelled.

"I know that-"

"What? You know what?" I exclaimed, my temper rising more and more by the second. "That you abandoned your family? That you basically labeled me a screwup? That you just ran away? Is that what you know?"

"You have every right to be mad," he said calmly.

"Hell yes, I do! You just left! Because of one mistake, you just left! You messed up our whole family, and you think that you can just move back in like nothing happened?"

"I realize I messed things up here," he sighed. "But I've had time to think about it, and I-I was wrong to leave, Gus. I was wrong to label you a screw-up. I should've helped you; supported you, but I was a coward."

I said nothing. I could feel my blood pulsing through my veins. If I had any less self-control, I would've punched this man a long time ago.

"It's just, Gus, you're my son. When you told me that you were going to be a father, the only thing I could think of was how hard it was going to be for you."

"You think I didn't know how hard it was going to be when I told you? You think I thought Lauren would just give birth and then things would go back to the way they were? No! I knew I would have to give up things! I knew that it would be harder than ever to get the career I wanted!"

"Please, Gus," my mom whispered. "Don't yell."

"I don't care if you're sorry about leaving!" I screamed, getting up. "I don't care! You did it, and you let all this time pass before you came crawling back. I'm done with you dad! I hate you!"

I stormed out of the room and up to my bedroom, and flung myself down on my bed. For the first time in I don't know how long, I felt tears well up in my eyes.


	9. Chapter 9

_Gretchen's POV_

It was near two in the morning, and I was still wide-awake reading the next chapter of my Calculus book for class tomorrow. I had been at this for three hours, and I was only half way done.

I took another sip of coffee, hoping that it would fuel me through the rest of the night.

This will be my eighth all nighter at MIT. My first few were exciting. I mean, who doesn't picture staying up all night at their college? But after the fourth one, it got to be tiresome.

"Are you still reading?" one of my roommates, a Mathematics major named Barbra asked, raising her head off her pillow.

"Yes," I said. "I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"Nah, I'm going to the bathroom. But didn't you stay up all night last night too?"

"Yup. I have to in order to get all this reading done."

"Maybe you should think about taking a lighter load?"

Most students here took an average of three classes during the summer semester. I had decided to take five.

"I couldn't do that," I said. "I'm fine; I'm drinking plenty of coffee."

Barbra shrugged, and headed to the bathroom at the end of our hallway.

I sighed, pulling some of my hair out of my eyes as I looked at the complex differential equation in front of me, and tried to figure it out. I got it, eventually, but it took me almost five minutes. That was the longest it's ever taken me to solve a math problem!

Sure, these types of math problems were significantly harder than anything I worked on even in my AP classes in high school, but I still expected myself to be able to do them in a timely manner! Maybe I needed just work harder…

I went to bed at four that morning, and woke up three hours later for my first class of the day.

I had a pounding headache, and my legs and back felt like lead, which I guessed was from a combination of the caffeine wearing off and the lack of sleep I had gotten this past week.

I got dressed, grabbed my bag, bought a granola bar from the vending machine outside our door, and headed off to my Calculus class across the campus.

The sun was shining down brightly, which irritated my headache something awful.

My entire body was now in pain, and my stomach felt like it had been punched. Hard.

A terrible ringing sounded in my head, and the next thing I knew, my legs collapsed under me, and all I could see was blackness.


	10. Chapter 10

_Mikey's POV_

"So, should we go see a movie?" I asked Gus. Him, myself, Vince and T.J. had decided to have a guys day (well, actually, we had invited Spinelli, but she was helping her mom clean their attic), and had just finished eating lunch at this new sub place.

"I duuno, if you want," he answered glumly.

"Hey, man, you okay?" T.J. asked him. "Are Lauren and the twins alright?"

"Yeah, they're fine," he replied. "It's just, well, my dad came back a couple nights ago."

Vine, T.J. and I all exchanged looks. We all knew that Gus was really upset when his dad left.

"Did-Did you two talk?" Vince asked hesitantly.

"He tried, but I didn't want to hear it," he said. "I'm not going to forgive him. He left."

"Well, that was wrong of him," T.J. agreed. "But, well, isn't it going to be awkward if you two aren't talking and living under the same roof again?"

"I guess," he shrugged. "For him, maybe. I said everything I wanted to say to him. Look, guys, I know I brought it up, but can we just drop it. I don't really feel like talking about it right now."

We all agreed.

"So, back to the movie," he said. "Is there anything good playing? Keep in mind it'll have to be under two hours; I promised Lauren I would stay with the twins tonight so she could finally see some of her friends again."

"What about that new movie about the Poet?" I suggested. "I heard it was remarkable."

"No," all three of my friends said at once.

"How about Return to Planet Gore III?" Vince said. "Friend from track saw it and said it was the bloodiest one yet."

"Now that's a movie," T.J. grinned. "Sorry, Mikey, but maybe we can see your movie some other time."

"That's okay, I do love the romance between Slimetron and Lady Goo."

We headed over to the movie plaza and got in line to buy tickets. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Kirst.

"Look, guys, it's Kirst!" I said to my friends.

"That girl from Third Street?" Gus asked.

"Didn't she get expelled or something?" Vince said, frowning.

"She just got sent to another school," I told them. "I saw her the other day at Kelso's and we hung out together. She's a very nice person."

"Mikey, I know the two of you were friends and all back in fourth grade, but don't you think-" T.J. started, but I ignored him.

"Kirst!" I called, waving to the girl. "Over here!"

"Hey, Blumburg," she said, coming over. "Here for that endless popcorn special they have today?"

"Yes, and to see a movie with my friends. You remember T.J., Gus, and Vince, don't you?"

"I try not to," she mumbled.

"What movie are you here to see? " I asked her.

"Return to Planet Gore III."

"What a coincidence, so are we! Maybe we can sit together! Guys, would you mind if Kirst sat with us?"

"I guess not," they all muttered.

"Swell! It'll be much more fun with five of us!"

We bought out tickets and popcorn and then headed into the theater. I ended up sitting between T.J. and Kirst.

"I hope they got rid of all the lovey dovey crap between those two aliens," Kirst commented as the film started.

Once the film ended, Gus bid us all goodbye and went to see Lauren and the twins.

"Should we all go to Kelso's for a sundae?" I asked T.J., Vince and Kirst.

"Gee, Mikey, I really should be getting back; Spinelli's probably upset I didn't offer to help clean out her attic with her."

"Vince? Kirst?"

"I'm always down for food," Kirst shrugged, still stuffing her mouth with the popcorn she had gotten.

"Fantastic! And you Vince?"

"Well, um," Vince said slowly, looking at Vince. "I-I actually have track practice in about half-an-hour. Thanks for the offer though."

I frowned as I watched the too head to T.J.'s car. I got the sense that my friends didn't care to much for Kirst, just like they hadn't in fourth grade.

"Well, looks like it's just the two of us," I said to Kirst. "I don't have a car, so I guess we'll just have to walk."

"Shame," she said. "Owning a set of wheels really ups your status."

"I don't mind. I like walking. It gives me a chance to think."

"Think? Blumburg, this is summer; you don't think."

"Why not? You don't enjoy just thinking sometimes; getting lost in your own thoughts."

"Believe me, that's the last thing I want to do."

After our sundaes (three for me and five for Kirst), I invited Kirst back over to my house.

"I can show you some poems I wrote, and then maybe just talk."

"Just talk?" she repeated.

"Sure."

"Wow," she said. "I think this is the first time a boy's ever invited me over to his house to do anything besides, well, you know."

"No, I don't."

"Keep it that way," she said. "Fine, I'll come to your house. But there'd better be snacks."


	11. Chapter 11

_Spinelli's POV_

Ashley A.? Here? Great, just great. As if etiquette classes could suck anymore.

"Welcome, Ashley," the teacher greeted her. "Well, it seems like the only available seat at the moment is next to our other Ashley right over there. Please take your seat, and then I'll continue with the lesson.

Ashley A. looked at me, and with a disgusted look on her face, walked over to my table.

"Gross, why would they let you in here?" she sneered, moving her chair as far away as possible from me. Unfortunately, the teacher was too busy beginning the lesson on proper introductions to hear her.

"Well, gee, Ash," I said in a falsely polite voice. "I was just hoping to learn some manners so I could pretty myself up and be just like you. Not."

"You wish," she sniffed. "This is probably part of some jail sentence."

"Believe me, I would definitely pick jail over this," I snapped. "I don't want to be here, you know."

"Join the club," she mumbled. "But I, like, had no choice. The last place I want to be is an, ugh, community center."

"Then why are you here?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Because, not that it's any of your business, Spinugly, but the other Ashleys have all decided to go abroad this summer to their beach houses in Europe," she said. "Normally, I would've of course jetted off to my own beach house in Italy, but daddy's private pilot just had heart surgery and can't fly for three months. So I signed up for a private Swedish dance class at the Dance Complex, but it got canceled, so they deferred me here, and mummy said that I had to go to at least one class since she had already written the check."

"Wow, too bad," I said sarcastically. "You know, if you hadn't tried to get me expelled last year, I might actually have a grain of sympathy for you."

"Please, like I want your pity."

"Girls," the teacher said, looking back at us. "Proper ladies know when to hold their tongues when listening."

I rolled my eyes.

"Now then," she continued. "You will practice among your tablemates the procedure I just taught you. Begin."

Crap. This is going to be just like school, isn't it?

"Ugh, and I'm stuck actually working with you?" Ashley whined. "Can this get any worse?"

"Tell me you at least heard what she was saying," I said.

"No! You were too busy running your oversized mouth!"

"Brilliant. Okay, well, look around. See what everyone else is doing."

"They're just folding their arms! And now they're doing something else with their hands…"

"Maybe they screwed up and put us in a Sign Language class," I mumbled.

I could've sworn I saw Ashley smile, but then it faltered into her usual scowl.

"Girls, I don't see you practicing," the teacher called to us from the front of the room.

"Let's just make something up," Ashley sighed. "Just fold your arms like this. No, not like that!"

"Sorry I'm not an expert in this,"

"Here," she said, taking my arms. "Fold them with your palms about a centimeter apart. That's how my nanny taught me when I was little."

"You had a nanny teach you this?" I snorted.

"Three, actually."

"Very nice!" the teacher called to us. "I suppose you did get the lesson after all."

"Yeah, I got that it was a load of garbage," I said softly.

This time, Ashley did actually laugh.

"Now we have to move our hands like them too," I said. "I guess she talked about gesturing. Your nannies teach you anything about that?"

"Just don't move your hands too wildly, and don't point any fingers."

"I don't know; there's one finger I really want to point at this lady."

Ashley grinned. "Um, Spinelli. I know we're not exactly friends, or anything, but, well, you're actually making this class tolerable. Although I will deny saying that if you repeat it."

"Thanks, I guess. Um, same to you?"

"Thanks." Then she sighed. "Look. I know I was really bitchy to try and get you expelled last year-"

"You think?"

"-But I'm sorry," she finished.

I almost fell out of my chair. Did Ashley A. just apologize to me? Was she actually capable of human emotion?

"Yeah, well," I stammered, still surprised at her apology. "I'm used to your antics. You've been at them for years."

"I guess you're right. You know, any other girl would've buckled under that years ago. But you didn't; and I've got to say, that takes a backbone."

"Uh-huh."

"Like that one time me and the other Ashleys rated everyone on the playground and only gave you a six?"

"Oh yeah," I said thoughtfully. "Hadn't thought about that in years. I remember one time you gave me those wrestling tickets, and I spent the entire recess trying to figure out what you were up to, and ended up getting stuck in your clubhouse."

"The one made of tires? Oh my God, I forgot all about that!"

"How did you manage to get everything into that place?"

"Daddy's company helped us out."

Me and Ashley talked like that for the rest of the class. It frightened me to say it; but was actually not miserable in her company.

Did that make me a traitor to my friends? We had a sort of Ashley vendetta among us.

After the class finally ended, we walked to the parking lot together.

"Did you drive here?" she asked, walking over to her shining red BMW.

"Nah; car's busted. My mom's supposed to pick me up."

"Well, seeing as I have no one else to hang out with, do you, um, maybe want to come back to my place?"

I stared at her. Clearly, this was some sort of trap. She was going to take me back to her house, trap me in her dungeon, and eat my brains or so some other horrible Ashley-like thing to me.

But even as these thoughts played out in my head, I still found myself saying "Okay", and getting into the passenger seat of her car.


	12. Chapter 12

_T.J's POV_

"Mom, please! You can't make me go back there!" I begged my mom. I had just gotten back from my first day volunteering with that Big Brother Big Sister organization, and I was ready to pull my hair out.

First of all, a lot of volunteers wouldn't be coming until next week, so until they did, I wouldn't be assigned to just one kid, but about ten. They were all kindergartners, and they must've eaten about a box a piece of Senior Fusion Sugar Coated Delight breakfast cereal, because boy, were they hyper. To top it off, I got the group with two kids in it who really don't like wearing their clothes…

"It's a great opportunity for you," my mom insisted, putting dinner in the oven. "Besides, these kids don't have big brothers or sisters of their own, which means that they are really in need of you."

"Yeah, sure mom," I said. "Because having Becky in my life really made all the difference."

"You're going again," she said firmly. "For at lest the first half of summer."

"Mom!"

"It was only the first day," she said. "It'll get better."

I highly doubt that.

The next morning I had to wake up at eight to get to the school. Eight? Can you believe that? There needs to be a law or something…

When I got to Third Street I parked where I had the previous day, and dragged my feet to the classroom where the kids were sure to be waiting to inflict their doom on me.

I was surprised, though, to see it was much quieter, and there were only about five children.

"Um, what's going on?" I asked the woman in charge, Madine Carter. "There's no one here."

"They're all here," she replied. "I happen to have some good news. We've gotten a flood of volunteers since yesterday. We were able to assign everyone to one child, so they're out one the playground now getting acquainted."

"Oh, great," I said. "So can I get my kid?"

"You certainly can. Myra, can you come over here sweetie?"

One of the five children stood up. Unlike all the other kindergartners, she actually seemed…normal. She didn't have crazy ripped up play clothes, or face paint smeared across her face. Wow. I guess I lucked out.

"Hi, Myra," I said, kneeling down to see the girl.

"Hello," she responded.

"You two may go outside now."

"Sound like fun," I said, taking her hand. "You're in for a treat, Myra. I know this playground better than anybody."

Myra sure was quiet. She didn't talk too much, and seemed really shy.

"So, what do you want to do?" I asked her once we got out to the playground. "A little wall ball? Slide down Old Rusty? Maybe hang out in the Cheesebox?"

"Could we swing?" she asked quietly.

"Sure! I love swinging. Come on."

I led her to the swings. "Want me to push you?'

"Yes please."

I began pushing her. A smile finally appeared on her face, and she sounded like she was having fun.

As I pushed her, though, her T-shirt began to rise a little, exposing her back. I frowned as I noticed many bruises and scars.

"Wow, Myra. Did you have an accident?"

She nearly fell off the swing.

"No," she said quickly, jumping off. "Or, um. I fell."

"You fell?" I repeated.

"Yes. Can we play catch now?"

"Um, sure," I agreed.

Myra ran to grab a ball from the bin.

Man, I hope those scars weren't from what I was thinking of…


	13. Chapter 13

_Vince's POV_

"Wait, so you get to run for that Exhibition thing?" T.J. exclaimed. "Vine, that's huge! That's amazing! That's-"

"It's in August," I cut him off. "For almost the entire month."

"And…?"

"And, that's when Gretchen's coming down! She said that we'd talk about getting back together, but how are we supposed to do that when I'm not there?"

"Oh," he said. "So, um, what're you going to do?"

"I don't know," I sighed. "I mean, this Exhibition is like, the most important thing for my career. There's going to be all sorts of scouts there for colleges, and if I run well, I can get accepted into some of the top schools! But, I mean, it's Gretchen, man."

"That's a tough one," T.J. agreed. "When do you need to tell your coach if you're going or not?"

"He said as soon as possible, so probably within the next couple of weeks."

"Can't you just fly down here from the Exhibition one weekend when there's no races going on?"

"No. Coach will be running drills with me 24/7. If I go, I'm trapped there."

"Look, Vince, this is a huge decision, and you don't need to make it right now," he told me. "Why don't we just not talk about it now; get your mind off it and just hang out? Sound good?"

"Sounds good," I nodded.

The two of us were walking around the downtown shopping area.

"Hey, that's the store Gretchen's brother works at," T.J. said, stopping in front of the computer store.

"Oh yeah, Gio," I nodded. "Wanna go in and say hi?"

"Sure."

The two of us walked in. We spotted Gio standing at the front desk, talking to the manager.

"Look," he was saying as we got close. "I need to take the rest of the week off."

"Mr. Grundler, you know that you have to give notice before-"

"I know! But it's an emergency, okay? My little sister is in the hospital."

"What?" I exclaimed.

He looked over at me. "Vince? T.J.?"

"Gretchen's in the hospital?" I asked, heart pounding in my chest.

He nodded.

"Why?" T.J. asked, looking very concerned. "What's wrong with her?"

"I'm not sure yet; my parents only told me this morning. They already flew out to MIT." He turned back to his boss. "So can I have the rest of the week off or what?"

"Yes, yes, I suppose," he sighed. "Go on, then."

"Gio," I called after him as he hurried out of the shop. "Do you know if she's okay?"

"All I know is that she collapsed on campus," he said, pulling his car keys out of his pocket. "She hit her head pretty hard. I don't even know if she's woken up yet."

"Collapsed? From what?"

"I don't know," he said, jumping into the car. "I'm heading to the airport right now."

"Can you keep us posted?" asked T.J.

"I'll see what I can do," he said, starting his engine.

I wanted to ask him a ton more questions, but he had already raced off down the road.

"She's in the hospital?" I said weakly to T.J.

"Vince, she's going to be fine," he said quickly. "You know what, she probably just got dehydrated or something. I heard it's pretty hot up there."

"Yeah, but what if it's something more serious?"

"Don't think of that. I'm sure Gio will call us tonight and tell us Gretchen's doing fine. Now come on, I'll drive us back home."


	14. Chapter 14

_Gus's POV_

"Gus, are you sure you don't want to talk about it?" Lauren asked me as we loaded the twins into her aunt's car that we were borrowing to take to the doctors.

"I'm positive," I nodded, buckling Sarah into her car seat. "Look. I'm done with my dad. I don't care if he lives in my house and I have to see him everyday; I've lost all respect for him."

"But he's still your dad," she said softly, strapping Brent in.

"So? I mean, do you still really have any respect left for your parents after they threw you out?"

"I'm mad at them," she sighed. "I hate them for what they did, and I'll probably never forgive them, Gus, but…I don't think I could ever just say I'm done with them."

"Well, I guess that's the difference between us," I said, getting into the drivers seat.

"Let's not fight right now," she said. "It's the twins first doctors appointment. We can deal with this later."

"You're right. Sorry."

We drove to the doctors in silence. I felt bad for snapping at Lauren, she was just trying to help.

When we parked in front of the building, I grabbed her hand before she got out to get the stroller. I gave her a small smile, and she seemed to understand the apology.

"Hi, we're here for our ten o'clock appointment with Dr. Geller," Lauren said to the recptionist at the front desk.

"He'll be with you in just a moment," she replied kindly.

We were really fortunate to have Lauren's aunt. She was paying for this doctors visit; something we could never afford on our own.

After about five minutes of sitting in the waiting room, a nurse finally came and got us. She did a few routine procedures before the doctor came. She took the twins' temperatures, weighed them and looked into their ears. Then Dr. Geller came in.

"Hello," he greeted us, shaking both our hands. "Glad to meet you. These must be Brent and Sarah."

"Yes," Lauren said. Both babies were lying on the examination table, happily off in their own world. "Well, temperatures are normal and their growths are right on track," he nodded, looking at the files the nurse had left them. He took his stephascope and listened to each babies heart beat.

"Do you have any questions?" Dr. Geller asked, taking the small hammer doctors use to check reflexes out.

"Not right now," I replied. "Unless you know how to get them to sleep through the night."  
>"Yes well," he laughed. "I'm afraid you'll still have a few months of that left." He tapped Sarah's little leg with the hammer, and she gave a little kick.<p>

"Little Sarah looks healthy as can be," he smiled. "She won't get any shots this visit, lucky for her, but we should start her on the routine vacanations within the year. I'll schedule them with you just after I check out Brent here."

He took his tiny hammer, and tapped Brent's knee just as he had done with Sarah. Only Brent didn't give any kick. The doctor frowned, and then tapped it again. Still nothing.

"Is something wrong?" I asked, shifting Sarah in my arms.

"I can't be sure," he said slowly. "But Brent doesn't seem to be responding to this test."

"What's that mean?" Lauren asked.

"It could mean a variety of things," Dr. Geller said. "But I'm going to call in another doctor and get a second look."

"Why?" Lauren questioned, frowning. "What happens if he doesn't kick or anything?"

"Well, Ms. Jacobs," he said gently. "As I said, it could be a number of things, but in cases I've seen…it means that your son is paralyzed from the waist down."

"What?" I exclaimed, setting Sarah down on the table next to her brother. "So he'll be in a wheelchair his whole life?"

"Why didn't they tell us this at the hospital?" Lauren cried, tears forming in her eyes.

"It can be missed if not properly tested for," he explained. "Which I'm sorry to say, happens quite often at that hospital."

I sank into the chair nearby.

"It could all be just a mistake," the Doctor reminded us. "I'll be right back with another doctor; maybe he'll have a different diagnosis."

I tried to think back; surely I had seen Brent move his legs at some point…Sarah kicked all the time. When you changed her diaper, tried to put booties on her, but Brent? Did he ever?

_No_, I said slowly to myself. He hadn't. Sure, he used his arms, but I had never actually seen him do anything with his legs. I never really noticed until now, though. Maybe that was because I figured he would just do it later, or maybe I didn't even realize he _wasn't_.

I hoped that the other doctor would come in and tell us that this whole thing was a terrible mistake, but in my gut, I knew it wasn't.


	15. Chapter 15

_Gretchen's POV_

I groggily opened my eyes. I still had a pounding headache, the bright lights were only aggravating it. Wait. Bright lights? Where was I?

I opened my eyes fully. I was lying in a white bed with an IV in my arm. My parents were sitting beside my bed.

"Mom? Dad? Where am I? What's going on?"

"You're in the hospital, sweetie," my mom said gently.

"The hospital? Why?"

"Don't you remember?" my dad asked. "You collapsed."

"I did?"

"Yes, on your way to class yesterday."

"But-but what's wrong with me?"

"The doctors aren't sure yet," my mom replied.

"Well when can I get back to school?"

"Not until you're well rested and the doctor gives you permission," she said firmly.

Right on cue, a doctor walked in.

"Glad to see you're awake, Ms. Grundler," he said, looking at a folder. "Feeling any better?"

"My head still hurts."

"I'll have a nurse bring you in some Tylenol, but I'm afraid that will only give you temporary relief."

"Why?" my dad asked, frowning. "What's going on with her?"

"We looked at the results from the MRI we performed when she got here," he said, sitting down on my other side. "And it appears that your daughter has Encephalitis."

"She what?" my mom exclaimed.

I knew what Encephalitis was; it was inflammation of the brain, and I also knew it wasn't as serious as it sounded…unless it had progressed a lot.

"How serious is it?" I asked.

"You're lucky, we caught it early on," he said. "We can put you on antibiotics and that will hopefully work…but I'd like to keep you in the hospital until then."

"What? I have classes!" I cried.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Grundler, but it seems that the lack of sleep and proper nutrients caused this in the first place. If you don't slow it down, we might have to operate."

I slumped down on my pillows. "Can I at least have my phone?" I asked my parents. "I need to call Vin-I mean, the gang back home."

"There's no cell phone service here, sweetie," my mom said. "Just try to get some sleep, okay?"

"Can you bring me some of my books?"

My mom gave me a look.

"I guess not…"


	16. Chapter 16

_Mikey's POV_

"And this is my room," I told Kirst, opening the door of my bedroom.

"It's small," she observed, sticking her hand in the bag of corn chips I had given her.

"It fits all my stuff."

"You don't have much stuff."

She was right. All I had in my room was my bed, my desk, my dresser and my bookshelf.

"I know," I nodded. "I don't care much for material things. The best things in life are right in your head."

"That's crazy," she snorted, sitting down on my bed.

"I don't think so. I feel bad for people that can't entertain themselves with their own thoughts and have to rely on other objects to do it for them."

"You know, Mikey," Kirst said, tossing the empty bag of chips aside. "You're really lucky."

"What makes you say that?"

"'Cause," she said. "You're life's so…easy. See me, well, you know what everyone thinks of me. I'm just the big, mean fat girl who everyone's afraid of. My teachers don't even give me a chance in school…neither do any other kids. And I saw the way your friends looked at me today."

"They just hadn't seen you in a really long time-"

"Spare me. I don't really care," she shrugged. "All I'm saying is that you've got it so easy. You don't have any problems in that little carefree mind of yours."

"That's not true," I said.

"Oh, sorry. I'm sure sometimes when you're writing a poem you have trouble coming up with a word that rhymes with happy."

"Kirst-"

"Some of us have real problems, Blumburg, and can't just sit happy in our minds like you do and-"

"I just got out of rehab."

She stopped talking and stared blankly.  
>"What?"<p>

"I was in rehab until just a few weeks ago," I admitted.

"You? No way."

"It's true, but not something I'm proud of."

"Oh," she said, looking at her shoes. "So, um. What for?"

"I got addicted to these pills Hustler Kid gave me."

"Pills?"

"Weight Loss pills. I took a bunch, and well, I got hooked. And I started acting differently and even ditched my friends. And then one day I ended up passing out and wound up in the hospital. I've been clean ever since."

"I've tried those pills," she said. "They don't work for me."

"They're horrible for you."

"Yeah, well, sorry then. I guess you have your problems too."

"We all do."

We were silent for a few moments. I moved to sit next to her on my bed.

"Hey, Mikey?"

"Yeah?"

"You promise that you're clean?"

"Of course I am. Why?"

"It's just," she sighed. "I've seen a lot of kids go down that path and never come back, and well, not that I care about you or anything, but…I don't want that to happen to you."

"Thank you, Kirst," I said. "That's very nice of you."

She rolled her eyes.

I don't know exactly what came over me then. All I knew was that I was staring into her eyes and she was staring back, and our faces were getting closer and closer together, and then, before I could even register what was going on, our lips touched: my first kiss.


	17. Chapter 17

_Spinelli's POV_

"Wow, this is your room?" I asked Ashley in awe as she led me into her bedroom.

"Yup. Pretty nice, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Even though there is a lot of pink…"

"It's my favorite color."  
>"I can tell," I mumbled. I walked over to her dresser, where there were many photographs of a tall, muscular blonde boy. "Who's this?"<p>

"Ross, my boyfriend," she replied.

"You have a boyfriend?"

"Yup. We've been dating for a year now. He goes to private school a couple miles away, though."

"Oh," I said. "Um, good for you."

"I really like him," she sighed. "But our relationship is nowhere near as good as yours and T.J.'s."

"How do you know how my relationship is doing?"

"Please, Spinelli, everyone sees you two around school. You guys will probably win best couple next year. Anyway, like I said, I really like him and everything, but the problem is, every time after we have sex, he kind of just shuts down and doesn't want to talk for the rest of the night. With my last boyfriend, Steve, we would talk for hours after sex. Are all boys like that? What about T.J.?"

"Um," I said awkwardly. "Well, me and T.J. have never-"

"No!" she gasped. "I would've thought-But you guys seem so in love!"

"We are," I snapped. "It's just, we haven't gotten there yet. I mean, we've talked about it, and we almost did it, but we decided to wait a little longer."

"Uh-huh. And when did you decide this?"

"About two months ago."

"And don't you think that's 'a little longer'?"

"I dunno," I sighed. "Why am I even talking about this with you?"

"Look, Spinelli. As weird as it may sound, over these last couple hours, I've actually grown fond of you. I thought maybe, I dunno, we could be friends? And friends tell friends about this!"

Friends? With an Ashley? That was absurd! Yet, she was right. Over the last couple hours I had actually found myself becoming less and less repulsed by her.

"I've been thinking about it the past few weeks," I admitted. "And I sort of decided _I_ was ready, but I still don't know about T.J."

"Well find out!"

After another hour, Ashley dropped me off at my house. I was glad no one saw me get out of her car; I'm still not sure how the gang would feel about me hanging out with our sworn enemy. I unlocked my door and flipped on the T.V., ready to enjoy a nice afternoon of mind-numbing television. Just as my favorite show, _Violent Fights_ was coming on, though, the doorbell rang.

"Oh, hey Teje," I greeted my boyfriend. "Listen I wanted to talk to you-"

"Spin," he said softly. "Gretch is in the hospital."


	18. Chapter 18

_T.J.'s POV_

"What?" my girlfriend exclaimed. "The hospital?"

"I don't know how serious it is," I told her. "We just found out from her brother Gio."

"But-"

"Look," I said calmly. "Gretchen probably just got overworked or something. Same thing happened to Becky's friend her first year of college. Gretch just needs sometime to adjust to college life, and she'll be her braniac self in no time, doing super advanced calculus and all her favorite things."

"You'd better be right," she sighed.

"I will be," I assured her, pulling her into a comforting hug.

"Where have you been?" she asked once we pulled away. "You were gone almost all day yesterday."

"That program my mom signed me up for, remember? Big Brothers Big Sisters. I got assigned to my kid."

"Let me guess; a crazed kindergartner?"

"Well, she's in kindergarten, but she's really shy and quiet."

"A _quiet _kindergartner? No way!"

_Yeah, too quiet_, I thought to myself, remembering the series of bruises I had seen on Myra. _Maybe there's a reason for that…_

I thought of talking to Spinelli about it, but I decided not to. Maybe she really did fall, and that's how she got the bruises.

"Well, anyway," Spinelli said. "Teje, can I talk to you?"

"Sure."

"Well, you remember about two months ago when we almost, you know, did it?"

I nodded.

"And we decided to wait a little longer?"

I nodded again. Where was she going with this?

"I was just wondering," she said, squirming around in her seat a little. "How long is a little longer?"

"Oh," I stammered. "Well, I hadn't really thought about an exact time…I just figured, you know, when we were both ready."

"Are you ready?" she asked softly.

I thought about it for a minute. I loved Spinelli. More than anything. I knew she was the one for me. And taking this next step, well, I _actually_ did feel ready for.

"I am," I said quietly. "But Spinelli, I don't want to pressure you or anything if you aren't-"

"But I am."

I blinked. "You are?"

"Yeah," she nodded, smiling. "I love you, T.J."

"I love you too, Spin."

"So," she said awkwardly. "How are we going to go about, um, doing this?"

"Um, my parents are out of town for the weekend," I said slowly. "Should we- I mean, we don't _have_ to do it tonight, I was just saying-"

"Sounds good," she interrupted. And before I knew it, she took my hand and led me across the street…


	19. Chapter 19

_Vince's POV_

I tried Gio's phone number again, but no luck. I had sent him about ten emails, but still no reply. I tried to tell myself that this didn't mean anything, but it was very hard to do.

"Hey, Vince," T.J. said, walking into my living room, where I was watching television, trying to keep my mind of Gretchen. "Any news?"

"No," I replied. "Still nothing. Did you tell Spinelli? You said you were going to come over yesterday after you talked to her, but you never did."

"Yeah I know, sorry," he said quickly, looking at the ground. "Lost track of time. Anyway…Did you figure out what you're going to do about your track thing?"

"No," I sighed. "And I mean, if she's in the hospital and I still ditch her, that just makes me terrible person in general, doesn't it?"

"Er," he said. "Well yeah…but she'll know you didn't have a choice."

"I do have a choice though, I can choose not to go."

"But it's college; if anybody would understand that it's Gretchen."

"Yeah, I know, but…Look, maybe I'll talk about it with her if I can ever get a hold of her…"

Suddenly, my computer beeped, and new email message popped up.

"Finally! It's from Gio," I said, clicking on the message. I read it, and frowned.

"What? Is she okay?" T.J. asked.

"He said she has Encephalitis," I said slowly, rereading the email.

"What the heck is that? It sounds foreign."

"No clue, only Gretchen would know what it means," I said, pulling up a search engine. I typed in the word and waited for the results.

"Inflammation of the brain!" I exclaimed as the results popped up. "Her brain is inflamed!"

"Holy cow! T.J. cried. "That sounds serious!"

"Well duh! It's her brain!"

"But-but maybe because _her _brain is so big it won't be as harmful to her," T.J. suggested optimistically.

I glared at him.

"I'm not helping, am I?"

…

AN- Just FYI, Encephalitis is not nearly as serious as it sounds. It can usually be cured with just a few antibiotics. Of course, Vince doesn't know that…


	20. Chapter 20

_Gus's POV_

I threw my dirty shirt into my hamper and grabbed a new one from my drawer. I had just finished my shift at the auto shop, and after a quick shower I was going to see Lauren.

"Gus?" my mom said softly, coming into my room.

"Hi, mom," I said.

I hadn't told her about Brent. Lauren and I had only told her aunt. We decided we weren't going to say anything to anyone else until we were certain that our fears were right. We had an appointment with a specialist next week.

"Tough day at work?"

"Yeah. I'll grab dinner on my way to Lauren's, so don't worry about me tonight."

"Gus," she sighed. "I know you're mad at your father-"

"Don't," I cut in. "Nothing you can say will make me forgive him. I don't know why you would either, but well, that's your decision. I made mine, and I want nothing to do with him."

"Please don't say that," she said tearfully. "He loves you."

"He sure knows how to show it."

"Gus, he's kicking himself for what he did," she said. "He regrets it. He says he did from the moment he left."

"Well then why didn't he come back?"

"He was afraid that you'd be exactly like this."

"Well, then he was right," I said. "Mom, look. He blatantly called me a screw up, left his son and wife, and waltzes back in here months later expecting us to welcome him with open arms. I just can't do it."

"Just try to," she said softly. "For me, Gus. I want my family back. Just last year we were all so happy. I'm not blaming you or saying any of this is your fault, but I just want to go back to there."

"I do too! But we can't. The man who I called my father left, mom."

"Gus-"

"I'm going to take a shower," I sighed, and walked past her.

When I got to Lauren, she was changing Sarah.

"Hi," I greeted her, kissing her lips. "Where's Brent?"

"Sleeping," she replied. "I just fed him. Can you get Sarah her formula? She spit up in her crib and I need to clean it up."

"Yeah sure," I said, taking the baby.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I'm fine," I replied. "It's just my mom really wants me to make up with my dad. It's been really hard on her."

She nodded. "Gus, please don't be mad at me for saying this, but maybe she's right."

"Lauren," I said. "I can't-"

"You don't have to forgive him," she said quickly. "Just come to terms with it. You both did things you regret, and you'll both have to live with them for the rest of your lives. But if you can at least acknowledge that, you'll both come out feeling a lot better."

"I don't know," I sighed, burping Sarah.

"Just think about it," she said. She gave me a small smile, then headed upstairs.


	21. Chapter 21

_Gretchen's POV_

So I finally get into my dream school, and I don't even last a month…fantastic.

Bed rest is really not for me. My parents and doctor have basically decided that my heavy schedule was what caused the Encephalitis, and have therefore forbidden me to do any sort of schoolwork, which after three days was becoming very painful. What I missed more than schoolwork, however, were my friends. I hadn't talked to anyone since Vince about a week ago. Vince…I missed him most of all, even though I was still pretty mad at him. But of course, my room didn't get cell service because of all the equipment in there.

"Mom?" I called to my mother, who was reading on the couch by my bed.  
>"Yes sweetie?"<p>

"Do you think I could have my laptop?"

"Gretchen-"

"Not for studying," I said quickly. "I just haven't talked to any of the gang in a long time. I want to see what everyone's up to."

She looked at me suspiciously, and after threatening to take Galileo 2.0 from me if she caught me on any academic site, she conceded and went to get my laptop.

When she got back, I logged onto . I had a few new messages, but I ignored those for now and looked to see who was online. Vince was the only one. I clicked on him, and typed:

'_Hey'_

About thirty seconds later, he responded. _'Gretchen? I've been trying to call you!'_

'I _don't have cell service right now' _

'_In the hospital?'_

'_How'd you know I was in the hospital?' _

'_We overheard Gio before he came up and we asked him to email us. I'm so sorry, Gretchen.'_

'_Vince, it's fine.' _

'_But you're not fine. How are you feeling?'_

'_Bored. I can't study.'_

'_You're thinking about studying now?'_

'_Well…yeah.'_

'_Gretchen, you know that I love you, right?'_

Whoa. That was out of nowhere.

'_Vince, I thought we were going to wait until I got back.'_

'_I can't wait. What hospital are you at?'_

'_Um? Why?'_

'_Because I need to see you.'_

He needed to see me? I frowned. Part of me wanted to see Vince more than anything, but the other, more reasonable part of me knew that would just worsen our situation.

I stared at our screen. Why was he so eager to come out now anyway? I thought he was content waiting until I got back?

'_St. Christopher's Medical Center; it's thirty minutes from MIT.' _

After I typed that, I signed out and closed my laptop, already regretting what I had done.

…

AN- So school's starting and unfortunately, that means these daily updates are most likely not going to last much longer…I'll still try to update as frequently as possible, at least twice a week, though, so don't worry about that. Thanks for reading


	22. Chapter 22

_Mikey's POV_

"Wait, you kissed her?" Jeanie said in disbelief.

"Yes," I nodded. I was visiting Jeanie in the rehab clinic today, and I had just finished telling her about my kiss with Kirst.

"Wow, Mikey," she grinned. "Way to go. So are you two an item now?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "She ran away right after we pulled away."

"Oh," she said. "Well, I'm sure you just caught her off guard."

"Yeah. That or I repel women."

"Hey," she said firmly. "You're a great guy, Mikey. Anyone would be lucky to have you. Have you seen her since?"

"No," I sighed. "I don't know where she lives, and she won't answer her phone. Plus I've been a little preoccupied these last few days because I just found out my friend, Gretchen, is in the hospital with some sort of brain issue and my other friend, Vince, is getting really worked up about it and-"

"Look, Mikey," she interrupted me. "Do you like Kirst?"

"Yes," I said at once. "Sure she's a little odd, but I like that. Plus she's the only person I know whose appetite matches mine. It's just, well, my friends don't really like her."

"Are your friends dating her?"

"Um, no?"

"Then don't worry about what they think! Mikey, you need to do what makes you happy. Your friends will just have to get used to her."

"But," I started. "Even if I take that advice, what good is it going to do me if she doesn't like me back? I might've just blown our friendship too!"

"You have to talk to her," she said simply. "There's no other way to know."

"But I told you, I can't find her-"

"You'll find a way," she told me, smiling.

….

Somehow, right after I left the clinic, I found myself outside Kelso's. I had never been one to reject one of his famous sundaes, so I walked into the shop and ordered a quadruple scoop raspberry coconut sundae with peach sauce and gummy bears. Mr. Kelso slid my order over to me, and I dug in right away. Just as I shoveled my first spoonful into my mouth, I heard the ding of the door opening. I turned around and saw Kirst standing in the doorway.


	23. Chapter 23

_Spinelli's POV_

I had been in T.J.'s room a million times. We _had_ been neighbors for years. We had had sleepovers when we were little, and his mom even had pictures of us when we were six huddled together under the sheets of his bed pretending we were hiding from ghosts.

Yet here I was, naked, lying in his bed; something that was completely new to me.

"Um, so?" he said, looking over at me.

"That was-nice?" I said.

It had been more than nice. It was unbelievable. It was breathtaking. But I didn't want to sound like a giddy school girl about it.

T.J. grinned, seeing through my cover. "Yeah. It was."

He put his arm around me, and pulled me in. But just then, my cell phone rang. It was my mom.

"Pookie," she said when I answered. "Where are you?"

"At-at T.J.'s."

"Well, your aunt Glynda just called. She has invited us all over to dinner, and we're leaving in just a few minutes."

"Fine," I groaned. "I'll be right over."

"You have to go?" T.J. asked as I slid out of bed and began pulling my clothes back on.

"Yeah, family thing," I said. "With Aunt Glynda, remember? The one who said you looked like a raccoon?"

"How could I forget?" he mumbled.

"I'll try to come back over if it's not to late when we get back," I said, pulling on my T-shirt.

"Okay. Have fun with crazy raccoon lady."

"Please. I'm bringing my old spitball shooter. At least I'll be able to work on my aim."

He laughed, and I leaned down to give him one last kiss before running back over to my house.

….

"Ah! You did it!" Ashley screeched during our next etiquette class.

"Shhh! Don't broadcast it!" I snapped. "But yes"

"Oh. My. God! What was he like? Did you totally feel connected? Wasn't it just the best feeling in the world?"

I rolled my eyes. I had never imagined that Ashley A. would be the person I told about my first time to. I figured that would obviously be Gretchen, but seeing as I can't get a hold of her…

"It was…nice," I said, just as I did to T.J.

"Nice? It had to be more than nice."

"Ladies, no talking please," the teacher said.

We couldn't talk until after the class. Ashley was going to drive us to her house again.

"So, nice huh?" she said as we got into her car. "Can't think of any other adjectives?"

"Nice works just fine."

"Whatever," she said. "But see, you totally loved it? Now aren't you glad you listened to me and did it?"

I frowned. What did she mean 'listen to her'? I didn't have sex with T.J. just because Ashley had suggested it, did I?


	24. Chapter 24

_T.J.'s POV_

"Mr. Detwiller, you have a car, correct?" Madine Carter asked me when I showed up for my next day of Big Brothers Big Sisters.

"Yes," I nodded.

"May I see your license?"

I handed it to her.

"Very good," she nodded, handing it back to me. "Well, I just wanted to make sure everything was in order before I gave you permission to take Myra off school grounds.

"Oh, great," I said. "That sounds like it will be fun. Doesn't it, Myra?"

Myra was sitting a nearby table, between two kids fighting over a jar of paste. She nodded shyly.

"Just make sure she has a good time, and stay within the city," Madine instructed me.

"Will do," I nodded. I held out my hand for Myra and led her out to my car.

"Well, Myra," I said. "What should we do? See a movie? Go to the park? Get some ice cream?"

Myra shrugged. "Whatever you want to do is fine," she said quietly.

"Tell you what," I said, opening the car door for her. "We'll start at the movies, but we'll only see the one you pick. Don't worry about what I like, because I can enjoy any movie. Okay?"

She smiled a little and nodded.

When we got to the theater, I showed a list of shows and read off the titles I thought she would like.

"Let's see," I said. "There's _Adventures in Swamptown, Crazy Toad, The Lost Mouse, or Uncle Bear 2_."

"Um, I'm not sure," she said slowly.

"Well, have you seen _Uncle Bear 1_?"

She shook her head.

"Really? I though every kid in the world has seen that one."

"I've never been to the movies."  
>"What?" I exclaimed. "Never?"<p>

She shook her head.

"Well, then you probably wouldn't understand _Uncle Bear 2_," I said.

"I like mice," she commented.

"How about _The Lost Mouse _then?" I suggested.

She smiled and nodded. I bought our tickets and popcorn and led Myra into the theater.

I couldn't believe she had never been to the movies. She was five years old, after all. She seemed to be enjoying herself, though. She laughed almost the whole time and ate all her popcorn.

"So, you liked it?" I asked once the credits popped up on the screen and the lights came on.

"Yeah!" she said energetically. "I liked the part when Tiny found his way back home."

"I liked that part too," I grinned.

After the movies I took Myra for lunch and a sundae at Kelso's, then we played at the park for about an hour. I was supposed to get her home by four, so after the park, I drove to the address Madine had given me.

Myra's house was in a run down neighborhood. Most of the houses didn't even have grass in the lawns, and quite a few houses had busted windows and loose roof tiles. Myra seemed embarrassed about where she lived, so I didn't say anything.

"Is this is?" I asked, pulling up in front of a particularly shabby house.

"Yes," she nodded. All of her perkiness that she had during the day seemed to vanish, and she turned back into the shy little girl. She unbuckled her seat belt and started towards the house. "Thank you."

"I'll walk you up," I said, turning off my car.  
>"It's okay-"<p>

"It's fine. I have nowhere to be."

Myra looked a little uneasy, but said nothing. I walked up with her and rang the bell.

About a minute later, a large woman with curlers in her hair and a cigarette sticking out of her mouth opened the door. "What? Oh. It's you."

"Hello, ma'm," I said as Myra quickly jetted inside. "I'm T.J.. I'm Myra's mentor from the Big Brothers Big Sisters program."

"Oh, that thing," she said, puffing on her cigarette. "Sorry you got stuck with her. I wouldn't be bothering with it, but that damn guidance counselor at the school made me sign her up."

"It's not trouble at all," I said quickly, liking the woman less and less every second. "Myra's a great girl."

"Yeah, maybe for you," she said, rolling her eyes.

"Barb?" called a man's voice from inside. "Who's at the door?"

"Myra's mentor kid from that stupid program!" she yelled back. She turned back to me. "Look, it was real nice of you taking her all day, but you can leave now."

"Er, alright," I said, frowning. "Um, nice to meet you."

Myra's mother slammed the door in my face without responding. I shook my head. Something wasn't right here.

As I started back to my car, I heard a tap on one of the windows. I turned around to see Myra. She waved at me, and I waved back.


	25. Chapter 25

_Vince's POV_

I was going to see Gretchen, that much I had decided on. It was now just a matter of getting my parents to let me go see her on my own…

"Good practice today, son?" my dad asked me as I entered the house after a particularly taxing practice.

"Yeah, it was real great, dad," I said, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. "Anyway, I was wondering I could talk to you about something-"

"Your coach just called," he interrupted me, walking to right in front of me. "Why have I never heard of this Exhibition run thing that he's so eager to take you to?"

"Oh, that," I said, cursing the coach in my head for letting that slip. "It's not really anything-"

"Top scouts from around the nation will be there!" he exclaimed. "Vince, do you have any idea what this means? Think of the scholarships; the opportunities!"

"Look, dad, it's not for almost another month," I said. "I'm still not sure if I want to go and-"

"What? Why wouldn't you want to go, son? This is your future we're talking about!"

"It's just, well," I sighed. "I may have other plans-"

"Other plans? Like what? Hanging out at the park? Watching T.V.? Vincent, this is far more important than any of those activities."

"Dad, please, can't I just talk to you about something else right now?" I asked.

My dad looked like he was about to protest, but he decided against it. "Alright. What?"

"I want to fly out to MIT."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he frowned. "Is this why you don't want to run in the Exhibition? Because you won't get to see your girlfriend?"

I was about to correct him, and say that Gretchen wasn't my girlfriend anymore, and would never be if I had to fly out for the run, but I just shrugged it off. "Dad, she's in the hospital."

His expression softened a little. "Oh. Is she alright?"

"No! She has some brain thingy going on! I just want to fly up and see her, dad!"

"What sort of 'brain thingy'?"

"Something with an 'E'!"

"Have you talked to her, and asked her how serious it is?"

"I don't think she has her cell phone," I explained.

"Have you tried calling the _hospital_, and asking to be connected to her room?"

I blinked. Wow. How come I didn't think of that?"

"I'm guessing not," he said. "I'll make a deal with you, Vincent. You call the hospital, find out the actual name of her condition, and if it's serious or anything of the sort, I'll fly up with you to see her, okay?"

I nodded.

I headed up to my room and grabbed my laptop. I typed in the name of the hospital Gretchen was staying at and found the number. I pulled out my phone and dialed.

"Hello," came the voice of a nurse on the other end. "St. Christopher's Medical Center. How may I help you?"

"Hi," I said quickly. "Could I please be connected to Gretchen Grundler's room?"

"You'll have to hold for a few minutes, sir," the nurse said. "Her floor does not have telephones in the rooms, so you'll have to wait for a cordless phone from the desk to be brought to her."

"That's fine," I said. "Thank you."

I heard the line click and the sounds of outdated songs began to play. I waited for nearly five minutes before I heard the other line pick up again.

"Hello?" came Gretchen's voice on the other end.

"Gretchen!" I exclaimed. "I'm glad I reached you before you had to go through surgery or something."

"Surgery?" she repeated.

"Yeah, you know, to try to stop that inflammation. How are you? Are they treating you well? Are you feeling sick?"

"Vince, I feel fine. I'm just tired from the medicine they're giving me, and I have a slight headache. That's it."

"Oh. Well when's your operation scheduled then? Today? Tomorrow?"

"What operation?" she asked. "Vince, what are you talking about?"

"I-I Gio-Gio emailed me saying that you had Encephalitis," I said. "I looked it up online and it said that that was inflammation of the brain."

"Well, yeah, that's what it means," she said. "But Vince, Encephalitis is nothing serious. I don't need to get an operation or anything. I just need to take some antibiotics. The only reason I'm still in the hospital is because my parents and doctor want to make sure I don't overwork myself."

I didn't know what to say. I was relived, obviously, that she wasn't dying, but that also meant that I wouldn't get to see her…

"I-I feel pretty dumb right now," I admitted.

"So, um," she said softly into the phone. "I guess this means that you won't be coming up anymore?"

"I'd love to, Gretchen, you know that," I sighed. "It's just that my parents won't let me. I don't have a car to drive up, and plane tickets are pretty expensive, and we're pretty tight right now since my parents have been helping Chad pay off his student loans."

"I understand, don't worry about it," she said quickly. "I mean, we'll see each other when I come down after the term. We can talk then."

I felt my stomach tighten. "Yeah," I said. "That's right."


	26. Chapter 26

_Gus's POV_

Lauren and I slowly walked out of the hospital where we had taken Brent for his last check-up. Three specialists had looked at him, and it was confirmed: our son had been born a paraplegic. Lauren and I didn't speak as she strapped our son into the car seat (we had left Sarah with Lauren's aunt) and drove out of the parking lot. I didn't know what to think. This meant that I could never play tag with my son. I could never race with him. I could never teach him how to play soccer or much of any sport for that matter.

I stared out the window as Lauren came to a stop a red light.

"Gus?" she said softly. "Are you okay?"

"No," I sighed. "How could I be okay? Our son's never going to be able to walk! He's going to be stuck in a chair his whole life!"

"I know," she said softly. "It's killing me too. But, well, there _are_ worse things that could happen to him. Maybe we should be thankful that this is all that's wrong with him."

"Pretty hard to be thankful," I muttered.

"I know," she nodded. "But the doctors said that he's perfectly healthy in every other way. He doesn't have any brain abnormalities or anything, and once we take some time to adjust to this, he'll be able to live a normal life. He can still go to school, laugh, play with Sarah…he just won't be able to-"

"Walk," I finished.

"Yes," she said. "But there's nothing we can do about that, so we just have to accept that."

I looked back at my sleeping son. Walking or not, I still loved him. He was my son.

"Right," I said.

….

"-But he's perfectly healthy in every other way," I told my mom. I had just finished telling her about Brent.

"Well," she said tearfully. "Thank goodness for that."

"Lauren and I are going to talk with a family therapist tomorrow about how to best create a normal atmosphere for him," I continued.

"That's a very wise decision, Gus," she nodded.

"Thanks. Anyway, Lauren's aunt is going to be working then, so do you think that you could baby sit?"

"Of course," she smiled. "You know I love those two."

My mom excused herself to go start cooking dinner, leaving me alone in the living room. I leaned back against the cushions of the couch, figuring I should go start that essay I have to do for summer school English, when the front door opened and my dad walked in.

Immediately, I got up to go upstairs, but he quickly crossed over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Gus," he said sincerely. "We've got to talk."

I frowned. I still didn't want to talk to this man. "No," I said firmly, and shook his hand off me.

He grabbed my wrist and looked right into my eyes. For the first time in all my life, I saw desperation in his eyes. "Please?" he said softly.

Something about that last word made me soften inside. I took a deep breath. "Okay," I said finally. "We'll talk."


	27. Chapter 27

_Gretchen's POV_

"Alright, Ms. Grundler," the doctor said. "It looks like the inflammation has gone down; you're in pretty good shape."

"So I can finally leave?" I asked. After being cooped up for close to three weeks, I was ready to get the heck out of this hospital.

"You'll have to stay one more night," he said, jotting a few things down on his clipboard. "But you're clear to leave bright an early tomorrow."

"Well, that's a relief," I said to my mom as the doctor left my room. "I can't tell you how behind I must be in all my classes. I'm going to have to talk to the professors and-"

"Sweetie," my mom sighed. "We need to talk."

"About what?"

"I-I know I encouraged you to take this opportunity at MIT," she said. "But, Gretchen, I'm beginning to think that maybe that wasn't such a good idea."

"What do you mean? You know I've dreamed of coming here since I was a little girl."

"Yes, I know, but come on, Gretchen, you can't tell me you're truly happy here. You're stressed out way over the normal limits, you're not sleeping, and you're not eating properly. We both know that the second you get back on that campus you'll fall into that same rut, and what if, God forbid, the outcome's even worse than this?"

I looked at the floor…she had a point. I loved being at MIT, don't get me wrong, but maybe I did bite off more than I could chew. I knew that coarse load was insane, and that the three hours of sleep I averaged each night was not healthy for someone my age. Plus, MIT didn't have the five people who made my old school as amazing as it was.

Thinking back, I think I took this opportunity as a way to avoid Vince.

Before we had that big blow out, I really hadn't seriously considered coming here. Had I really just used this as an escape route?

"You're right," I said softly. "But-But what can I do? Just drop out?"

"Tomorrow you need to go talk to the dean," my mom told me. "Discuss your options. Do whatever you think is right."

…..

I closed the door to the dean's office as I exited. I couldn't believe what I just did. Did I, Gretchen Grundler, really just withdraw from an Ivy League school?

I guess I did.

The dean had been very understanding, and sure, while he was a little disappointed that I would not be completing any of the courses I had signed on for, he assured me that when the time came for me to apply next fall, this would not be held against me, and I would be considered just as any other applicant.

I headed back to my dorm, boxes in hand, ready to pack up my belongings. My mom was at the front of the school parking and would be in to help me as soon as she found a space.

I know I should feel a little sad about leaving such a profound school, but all I could think about while I was packing was finally getting to see one particular person as soon as I got home.

…

AN- I am so sorry that I've waited so long to update this story. I've had a serious case of writer's block when it came to this one, so I apologize. I'll be the first to admit that out of the trilogy of recess fics I've written, this one is by far the worse, so maybe that's part of the reason I'm having such a hard time writing. I've also come to the decision that while I WILL complete this story, this will be the last one of the series. I'll make sure I tie up all lose ends, don't worry. I'm also thinking of beginning a new recess fic that I may even upload before this one ends, so look out for it. As always, I thank anyone who reads and/or reviews. I'll try to have the next chapter up ASAP.


	28. Chapter 28

_Mikey's POV_

I stood there, staring at Kirst as she stood frozen in the entrance.

"Hi there, Kirst," Mr. Kelso said. "How's one of my best customers doing?"

"I-I have to go," she said quickly and turned to head out.

"Wait, Kirst!" I yelled, abandoning my sundae to run after her.

For someone her size, she was pretty fast. I could barely catch up to her. But when I did, though, I grabbed her shoulder so that she turned to face me.

"Look," I said, trying to catch my breath. "Can we please just talk about what-"

"No," she said firmly. "Let's never bring it up again."

"But-But-" I stuttered. "Why?"

"Because I know how guys operate," she snapped. "They try to woo you in, make you think that you really mean something to them, treat you real nice until they get what they want and then they drop you so hard that it's amazing that you're even still alive."

I blinked. "Kirst, I don't know-"

"You know, Mikey, I thought you were different," she said. "I thought maybe you just liked me for me, but no, you want just what every other guy wanted."

"Kirst," I said softly. "It's not like that at all."

"Oh, so I suppose you just kissed me because you thought I was pretty then," she scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Yes, I did," I said earnestly.

She looked back in me, and for a second, I thought I saw a tear in her eye. "Don't lie," she whispered.

"I'm not," I said, cautiously taking one of her hands, which she pulled away immediately. "Whatever guys have taken advantage of you in the past, well, they were jerks. They clearly weren't smart enough to see what I see."

"Shut it, Blumburg," she said, looking at the sidewalk.

"No," I said, slightly surprised at the vindication in my voice. "Kirst, I'm not one of those guys that's only looking for one thing. I kissed you because I-I _really_ like you. I think that the two of us could be something. But…if you tell me that you don't want to, I'll leave. We can forget this ever happened and just go back to being friends…if you want."

She didn't say anything, and I sighed and turned to leave. I hadn't taken more than five steps, though, when she said, "Are you being completely honest?"

"Yes."

"You-You really like me?"

"Maybe even more than like."

She took a deep breath. "I-I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"Don't be."

"It's just, well, I've been with a lot of assholes. I don't want this to end the same way, because, maybe-maybe I feel the same way about you."

I grinned. "Don't worry. It won't."

…..

I had a girlfriend. A girlfriend! Me! My parents had been thrilled when I told them, and even insisted that I invite Kirst over for dinner this weekend. I had just gotten off the phone with Jeanie when there was a knock at my door. I opened and saw Vince standing there.

"Hey," I greeted him. "Guess what? Today I-"

"Mikey, do you think I could borrow your big suitcase?" he asked.

"Um, sure," I nodded, walking over to my closet to get it for him. "You need it for that big track thing next weekend?"

"No," he sighed. "I'm not going to that. I'm going up to MIT to see Gretchen."


	29. Chapter 29

_Spinelli's POV_

Ever since that conversation with Ashley A, I had been feeling…off. I kept telling myself that I had had sex with T.J. because _I _wanted to, not because she somehow egged the idea into my brain.

I was laying on my sofa, flipping through the channels, not really paying attention to what was on the screen.

I loved T.J., right? So what was the problem, then? If you loved someone wasn't it only natural to…

"Spin!"

I looked up from the T.V. to see T.J. standing over me.

"Whoa? How'd you get in?" I asked, sitting up.

"You left your door unlocked; I did knock, though, but you never answered and I could here the T.V.," he explained.

"Oh."

"What were you thinking about? I called your name like ten times."

"Just…things," I lied.

"What kind of things?" he frowned, sitting next to me.

"Never mind," I said, shaking my head.

"No, tell me."

"It's dumb."

"So? Come on, you know you can tell me anything."

"Look, can we just drop it?" I said, a little more harshly than I had intended.

"Um, okay," he said, looking taken aback.

"Teje," I sighed. "Sorry…I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine," he said, not looking me in the eye. "I-I just came over here to ask you about something but maybe I should come back."

"No," I said, pulling his arm back down as he began to get up. "I-I was just thinking…do you regret it?"

"Regret what, exactly?" he asked, puzzled.

"You know…us…doing it?"

"What? No!" Then his face fell. "Do you?"

"No," I said truthfully. "I-I really do love you, Teje, it's just…I've got to tell you something, and I just hope you don't take it the wrong way."

"Okay…"

"You know those etiquette classes my mom signed me up for?"

"Sure."

"Well, Ashley A. goes to them too, and in some weird, bizarre twist of fate, we ended up talking, and maybe even grew into, I dunno, _acquaintances_."

"Acquaintances?"

"I've been to her house a few times," I admitted. "And one time when I was there, we got to talking and we got around to the subject of sex, and," I took a deep breath. "She-She was the one who suggested that we do it."

T.J. blinked. "So you're telling me," he said slowly. "That the only reason you wanted to do it was to be like Ashley?"

"No!" I said quickly. "At least-At least I don't think I did."

"I've got to go," he said, getting up.

"Don't," I said, jumping up as well. "Are you mad?"

"I-I'm not sure," he whispered. "Did you even _want_ to do it?"

"Yes! I really and truly did, T.J., that much I can promise you. And who knows, maybe we would've done it even without Ashley A. talking about it."

He sighed. "I don't think she could influence you, Spin."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I've never known you to do anything that you didn't want to do, know matter who was trying to convince you," he said. "You're the most bull-headed girl I know."

"Um, thank you?"

"Look," he said. "You said you didn't regret it, right?"

"Right," I nodded.

"And neither do I," he said. "So does it even matter if Ashley A. was the one who suggested it? I mean, we were going to do it before, but we decided to wait."

"I know," I said. "But still-"

"You know what," he said, a small smile inching along his face. "I think you're just a little freaked about the fact that it was Ashley A. you took the advice from, not just that you took it in general."

"Huh?"

"Think about it," he said. "If you had talked Gretch about this and she had been the one the suggest it-"

"Yeah, like she would suggest it."

"This is a purely hypothetical situation. Anyway, if she _had_ suggested it to you instead of Ashley, and we still did it, would you feel like you did now?"

I thought. "No," I finally said. "I wouldn't."

"There you go," he said.

"Wow," I said. "You're really good."

"It's the whole team leader thing," he grinned. Then he got serious. "Er, sorry I kind of overreacted for a minute there."

"_You_ overreacted? I was the one who couldn't sleep or eat for days!"

He looked over at the empty pizza box by the couch.

"Okay, I could eat," I admitted. "But it's still been driving me crazy."

"I can imagine," he grinned, pulling me into a kiss.

"Hey," I said once we parted. "You said you were going to ask me something."

"Oh, right," he nodded. "Actually, it wasn't so much as ask as it was show…come on."

He led me across the street to his house and unlocked his car. I got into the passenger seat as he drove through neighborhoods I've never seen before.

"Um, Teje?" I asked as he cam to a stop in front of a run down house. "What are we doing here?"

"You know how I'm part of that Big Brother's Big Sister's program?"

I nodded.  
>"Well," he sighed. "This is were my kid lives."<p>

"Oh," I said. "It's…nice."

"Spin," he sighed. "She's got bruises all over her back. She seems like she's afraid of every little thing, and when I dropped her off here the other day, her parents didn't seem to even care about her. I-I think she may be getting abused."

I let out a deep breath. "What-What are you going to do?"

"I don't know yet," he said. "I could tell the head of the organization, but that may not be effective right away."

"What if you call the cops?"

"And what if they come and don't see anything?" he asked. "And Myra's parents will think that she called them and right after they leave, she'll get abused even more."

I could feel tears welling up in my eyes and I looked over at T.J. and saw that he too had watery eyes.

"All I know," T.J. said, unbuckling his seatbelt and opening his car door. "Is that I'm not letting her stay here any longer."


	30. Chapter 30

_T.J.'s POV_

I stormed up to Myra's front door and knocked.

"We don't want any," her mother said, opening the door, wearing a ratty old pair of shorts and a tank top that was much too tight for a woman of her figure.

"Er, hello, mam," I said, struggling to remain civil. "Do you remember me? I'm Myra's mentor from-"

"What do you want?" she snapped. "I'll have you know you woke us up."

I looked down at my watch. It was well after one in the afternoon…

"Oh, sorry about that," I said. "I was told to pick Myra up again today."

"What? She's only supposed to go down to that school once a week," the woman said.

"You mean the program didn't call you?" I said, hoping I sounded convincing. "They're extending it to two days a week now."

"Barb?" a man said, walking to the front door. He was at least six feet, and had a very sloppy appearance. He looked like he hadn't shaven in weeks, and was wearing nothing but a pair of boxers and socks. "Who the hell is this?"

"Myra's kid from that thing at the school," the woman said. "Said they've extended the days."

"Yes," I said. "I really don't know why you weren't contacted…someone must've skipped you on the list."

"She can't come today," Myra's father said, crossing his arms. "She's busy."

"Well see, the thing is, sir," I said, thinking fast now. "Is that they're checking up at the progress that's been made with the kids. I mean, I suppose if you arranged it, someone could just come down here and talk to her later on…"

I knew that would get them.

"Fine," her father snapped. "Myra! Get over here!"

Myra ran over to her father, looking terrified.

"Get your shoes," he ordered. "You're going out with that mentor kid of yours."

And with that, he shuffled back into the house, not paying his daughter another glance.

"It's just as well," her mother shrugged as Myra quickly picked up her shoes from by the front door. "At least it's another day I can get her off my back."

"Myra," I said walking back to my car as the door slammed behind us. "This is my girlfriend, Spinelli."

I opened the door for her to jump into the car.

"Hi, Myra," Spinelli smiled. "T.J.'s told me a lot about you."

Myra smiled back. "She's pretty," she whispered to me.

"I know," I grinned, rustling her hair. "Anyway, Myra, you hungry? How about we go out for lunch?"

"Okay," she said softly.

"You like pizza?"

"Yes!"

"Alrighty then," I chuckled. I drove to the nearest pizza parlor and ordered a large pie and three milkshakes.

When our food came, Myra immediately dug in, acting as though she hadn't eaten in days. My heart sank as I realized that that could very well be true.

Spinelli and I exchanged glances.

"So Myra," I said. "Your parents seem…nice."

She shrugged. "I guess."

"Are you excited about starting kindergarten in the fall?" Spinelli asked.

Myra nodded. "But are all the kids so loud like the other kids in the group at the school?"

"Yeah, they are," I grinned. "But that's what makes kindergarten so much fun; you just get to act wild and crazy during the school day."

"How long _is_ the school day? Ten hours? Twelve?"

"More like six," I told her.

Her face fell. "Oh."

"You wanted it to be longer?" Spinelli asked.

She shrugged again. "Sort of."

I scooted closer to her. "How come?"

She was quiet for a minute. "I-I don't really like my house."

I took a deep breath. "I know."

She looked up.

"I also know," I continued. "That you didn't get those bruises on your back from falling."

She opened her mouth to protest, but I cut her off.

"Myra," I said softly. "Do you get them from your parents?"

Myra started to cry. A few people at nearby table looked over, but Spinelli gave them the evil eye, which caused them to look away.

"Sometimes," she said slowly. "When-When I do bad things."

"What sort of things?"

"Like-Like when I spill my milk. Or-Or when I cry during thunderstorms. Or when I forget to bring in the mail…"

I looked over at Spinelli.

"Come on," I said, extending my hand to the sobbing girl.

…..

"I'm sorry, what?" Madine said after I told her everything.

"She's getting abused," I repeated.

I had left Spinelli with Myra while I went down to see Madine. I didn't know what else to do.

"Mr. Detwiler, this is a very serious accusation…"

"She has bruises all over her back," I said. "She _told_ me that her parents hit her for things like spilling milk and crying when she's scared!"

"She-She told you this?"

"Yes! And I've seen her parents; her mother doesn't give a damn about her and her father seems like he has total control over her! She can't stay in that house any longer, Madine!"

"Look, T.J.," she sighed. "I understand that you're concerned for Myra, but I can't-"

"Send someone over," I said. "Right now. You'll see. Talk to Myra yourself, and you'll see how scared she is."

Madine was quiet for a minute and then she let out a deep breath. "My sister is a social worker," she said. "I can have her pull a few strings and get somebody out there by five. Where is Myra now?"

"At my house. My mom and my girlfriend are with her."

"I want to look at those bruises," she said, standing up. "Let's go."

…..

Myra looked absolutely frightened when Madine got to my house and asked her to take off her shirt. I left the room while Madine inspected her, but Spinelli took over for me and held her hand.

"Well," Madine said walking into the kitchen where I was waiting. "You're right. Those bruises couldn't have been caused by anything less than a fist. A rather big one at that."

"T.J.," my mom said, coming into the kitchen. "Would you mind telling me what's going on?"

I opened my mouth to explain just as Madine's cell phone rang.

"It's my sister," she said. "Excuse me." She walked into the other room.

"We think, well, know," I told my mom. "That Myra's parents have been abusing her."

My mother gasped. "What?"

"I had to do something," I said. "I couldn't let her go back there."

My mom pulled me into a hug. "You have such a big heart, T.J.."

Madine walked back into the kitchen. "Well," she said. "I have good news. Well, it's not _good_ news, really. My sister told me that her and a few other social workers just got back from the house. They found no food in the house; just beer and vodka, the place was filthy, rats running around everywhere, and they found a few ounces of marijuana. They also said that it seems that instead of a room, Myra was living in the hall closet. She had no toys, no books, nothing that was even remotely appropriate for a child was in that house."

"So she's not going back?" I asked hopefully.

Madine shook her head. "Her parents have just been brought into custody. Myra will be placed into foster care as soon as possible, seeing as she has no other family."

"What a relief," my mother said.

I nodded. "I'll tell her then."

As I headed out to the living room where Myra was now playing a board game with Spinelli, I couldn't help thinking that the foster care system, while undoubtedly much better than the hellhole she just escaped from, wasn't nearly good enough for a girl as amazing as Myra.


	31. Chapter 31

_Vince's PIV_

"What?" Mikey exclaimed as I took the suitcase from him.

"I'm going to see Gretchen," I repeated.

"But-But you'll miss your exhibition," he sputtered.

"Mikey, I don't care," I said. "I'm not going to give up my relationship with Gretchen for a run."  
>"But Vince, this is probably the biggest run of your life! Are you just going to skip it?"<p>

"I thought you were supposed to be the sap of the group," I pointed out. "Shouldn't you be telling me to fight for true love or some crap like that?"

"But if Gretchen was here right now she'd be telling you the same thing! Look, you know I'm all for romance, but you've got to snap out of it! If you don't run, you won't get into college and then-"

"Mikey," I sighed. "Do you think I don't know that?"

He didn't reply.

"Well, I do," I continued. "And I don't care. I love Gretchen, and I don't think I could even run well at he exhibition anyway knowing that I'm not with her. If I lose a chance for a scholarship and admission to college then…whatever. I'll go to community college if I have to and transfer."

Mikey looked at me. "You're serious, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Then go," he said, smiling.

….

It was just noon. My plane was leaving in two hours. My parents were at work, thankfully, as I had neglected to tell them my plan, knowing full well that they would've put a quick stop to it. I scribbled a note and taped it to my pillow so they would at least know where I was. I zipped up the suitcase I borrowed from Mikey and grabbed the all the money I had saved in my "secret" shoebox and stuffed it in my pocket. There was no turning back now.


	32. Chapter 32

_Gus's POV_

At first, me and my dad just sat there. Neither of us really knew what to say to the other.

"So," my dad said finally. "Your-Your mother said that Lauren ended up having twins."

"That's right," I nodded. "A boy and a girl; Brent and Sarah."

"I always liked the name Sarah," my dad said softly. "As a matter of fact, when your mom was pregnant with you and we didn't know your gender, that was one of the top names we had for a girl."

"Imagine that," I said, crossing my arms.

"How-How are they?"

"They're fine," I said, thinking of Brent.

"Gus," he sighed. "You'll never know how truly sorry I am. If I could go back and-"

"But you can't go back," I pointed out.

"I know," he sighed. "I kick myself everyday for that."

"Why'd you leave?" I asked. It's something that I'd been wondering ever since that night…

"I-I don't know," he said honestly. "I guess I was scared…for you. I love you, son. And when you told me that you were going to be a father at sixteen I just immediately thought of everything you'd have to give up, everything you'd never get the chance to do and I felt like I was hurting _for_ you, if that makes any sense."

"It doesn't."

"Yes, well," he said heavily. "I was never any good with words; that's your mother's department."

I nodded.

"After I left," my dad continued. "I thought back to when your mom told me she was pregnant with you. I had just been promoted, and I was beginning to spend more and more time away from home. I remember thinking that a baby was something that I just couldn't handle. So at first I tried to pretend you weren't coming, but obviously I couldn't do that very long. So instead I just dwelled on the negatives, like I'd have to stop traveling so much, that I'd probably never move up in rank because I couldn't put in the extra hours…But then you were born, Gus, and when I held you for the first time, suddenly, I didn't care about any of that anymore. All I cared about was that I had this brand new baby son, and he was mine. Even looking back today, if I could redo any of it, even if it meant I'd get the highest rank, I'd never give up any of it, Gus."

I thought about what he said.

"I have to work long shifts at the auto shop," I told him. "I'm barely balancing all my classes, and I'm always tired. I missed the deadline to apply for the military's summer training session."

"And yet?" my dad said.

"I wouldn't give them up."

My dad nodded. "Exactly. I forgot all about that feeling of pure devotion you feel towards your child when I left, and when I was gone, the sensation came running back to me."

I looked up at my dad, and for the first time in my life, I saw a few tears in his eyes.

"Dad," I said softly. "Do you want to see them?"

….

"He looks just like you,' my dad whispered as he looked down at Brent in the crib.

"He's kind of got Lauren's eyes; you'll see when they're open," I told him.

I had driven us to Lauren's house to show my father his grandchildren for the first time. Lauren had left us alone, saying that we needed this time to ourselves, which I greatly appreciated.

"Sarah has your nose," he said. "She's beautiful."

Just then the babies began to stir, and their eyes simultaneously popped open.

"I think they're hungry," I said, grabbing the two bottles I had brought up from the fridge earlier. I handed one to my dad. "Do you want to feed Sarah?"

He nodded, and he gently picked my daughter up from the crib and placed the nipple in her mouth.

I picked up Brent and did the same. I traced a finger down his leg as he sucked his formula.

"Brent's never going to be able to walk," I told my dad. "He was born a paraplegic."

My dad looked up. "Are you sure?"

"Positive; he saw three specialists."

He nodded. "Well," he said. "That's that."

"That's that?"

"You can't change it, son," he said.

"I know," I sighed. "And I still love him."

"I know you do," my dad said, tenderly placing Sarah back in her crib.

"Dad," I said. "Thanks."

He looked at me. "I'm sor-"

"I know," I cut him off. "I know."


	33. Chapter 33

_Gretchen's POV_

As our car pulled into the driveway of my house, a wave of relief swept through me: I was home.

"I'll get my bags," I told my dad as he began to unload my stuff. "Don't worry about it."

"I'll go start on lunch then" he said. "I was going to barbecue some hot dogs."

"Sounds good," I said.

Him and my mom turned to head back into the house. I stared around my old neighborhood. Even though I had only been gone about a month and a half, it still felt as if it had been a year. I hadn't told any of the gang that I was coming home; I thought I'd surprise them.

"Gretchen?"

I turned around to see Mikey walking up to my house.

"Hey, Mikey," I grinned running up to him to give him a hug. "Long time no see."

"You're here!" he said excitedly.

"Yeah," I nodded. "It turned out that I'm not _quite_ ready to give up high school and you guys just yet."

Suddenly his eyes grew wide. 'Uh oh," he said.

"What?"

"You're _here_!"

"Um, yes," I nodded. "What's so-"

"Vince just left for the airport to go see you!"

"What? Why?"

"He wanted to patch things up," Mikey said. "Oh no, now he'll miss his run and-"

"What run?"

"This huge exhibition run that he's supposed to be leaving for today," Mikey explained. "It could get him into any college he wants on a scholarship!"

"Crap, Mikey," I said. "What time does his plane leave?"

"Two."

I looked at my watch. "It's only one thirty. We can call him now and...damn, that's right, you have to have your phone off once you get past the bag check…"

"What are we going to do?" Mikey said in a panicky tone. "Oh, and I told him to go…I should've tried to talk him out of it…"

Without even thinking, I ran back in the house and grabbed the keys to my parent's car. "Come on, Mikey," I said, getting into the driver's seat.

…..

By some miracle, and the fact that I was driving about 80 miles and hour, we managed to reach the airport by ten till two. I had Mikey look up the flight numbers on my phone during the trip, so I knew exactly which gate he was at.

We ran past the ticket counter and the baggage carousel to Vince's gate.

"Excuse me, mam," one of the workers said as I tried to get through. "Can I see your ticket?"

"I-I don't have one," I said. "I just need to talk to someone on that plane."

"I'm sorry, you need a ticket to pass this point."

"But-No! I need to talk to my friend; he's about to make the biggest mistake of his life!"

"I've heard that one a million times," the worker said, rolling his eyes. "But no ticket, no entry. Now please leave before I'm forced to call security."

"No! I need to get on that plane to-"

"Gretchen?"

I turned to see Vince coming out of the bathroom right next to the gate.

"What-What are you doing here?" he stammered. "I was just about to come see you and-"

"I left MIT," I told him. "I couldn't take it. I missed our old school, my house…you."

He blinked. "You missed me?"

"Yes."

"I-I had to see you again, Gretch," he said, stepping closer to me. "I know we said we'd wait and talk things out before we got back together but I-"

I cut him off as I stood on my toes and kissed him.

"Aw, true love conquers," Mikey said as we pulled apart.

"So," he said slowly. "Does-Does this mean that we're back together?"

"On one condition."

"Anything."

"You run like crazy in that exhibition tomorrow."

"Deal," he grinned.

"I really love seeing such young love," Mikey sighed as we headed toward the exit. "Reminds me of myself."

"Wait, what?" I stopped dead in my tracks. "Who are _you_ in love with?"

"My new girlfriend."

"Girlfriend?"

"Oh no," Vince said. "Please tell me it's not-"

"Her name is Kirst," Mikey said. "And yes, I'm aware that you all are not exactly fond of her, but I don't care. I like her, and that's all that matters."

Me and Vince exchanged glances.

"Wow, Mikey," Vince said. "I didn't know you liked her that much. You know what, good for you, Big Guy."

"Yeah, Mikey," I nodded. "And you know what, maybe we haven't given Kirst a fair chance. How about you go get her and then us and the rest of the gang can go out for lunch or some thing."

Mikey beamed. "You mean that?"

"Yup," I nodded.

"Fantastic! Let's go then!"

"Can't believe they're dating," Vince whispered to me.

"Eh, they're sort of a nice couple," I shrugged. "In a weird kind of way."

...

AN- yes, I know in reality that Gretchen and Mikey would not have made it all the way to the gate before they were stopped by security, but hey, this isn't reality. It's FanFiction.


	34. Chapter 34

_Mikey's POV_

"I'd say more chocolate cherries," I said, carefully tasting the ice cream sundae. "What about you, Kirst?"

"Go heavier on the caramel," she said, taking another spoonful.

"But the fried walnuts are good?" Mr. Kelso asked.

"Very," I nodded.

Kirst and I were celebrating our one week anniversary at Kelso's. Mr. Kelso, who was thrilled that his two best customers had coupled up, had taken to giving us new sundae creations for us to try before he began selling them.

"So," I said as Mr. Kelso hurried to the back to add our suggestions to the sundae. "Do you want to go out to dinner and a movie tonight?"

"Where would we eat?"

"Purple Lobster….they have endless crab…I bet we could give the chefs there a good run for their money."

"Good deal," she laughed, high fiving me. "I bet you those cheaps try to cut us off after out fourth helping."

Things had been going great with Kirst. She was my first girlfriend, but I already felt so comfortable around her. We would usually hang out at my house during the day and toss popcorn into the others mouth, which is much more romantic than it sounds. We even went out with the gang one time. I don't think the guys are exactly willing to become best friends with Kirst, but they were civil to her, and included her in all their conversations, which is all I ask.

I even brought her over to the rehab center to meet Jeanie. Jeanie instantly took a liking her Kirst, and told me I was a very lucky guy and that I'd better treat her right.

Believe me, I plan on it.


	35. Chapter 35

_Spinelli's POV_

"It's finally over," I said as me and Ashley A. walked out of the community center. We had just finished our last etiquette class, and we were more than thrilled.  
>"Thank God," Ashley said. "If I had to hear that annoying teacher talk one more time…"<p>

"That was a huge waste of my time," I said. "I can't believe I had to do it."

"Me neither," she agreed. "Well, at least now we know the proper way to hold a tea cup. Like, yeah, I'll remember to do that while I'm clubbing in Malibu."

"Make sure you extend your pinky when you down your tequila," I joked.

She laughed. "Man, you are hilarious. I thought I was going to die when the teacher asked you how many holes a proper dollies had and you said it depended on how much the male ones liked it."

"She looked like she was going to have a heart attack," I grinned.

As we laughed, I realized something. Now that the classes were over, I wouldn't have any excuse to hang out with Ashley anymore…I looked over at her and judging by the look on her face, I'd say she just realized the same thing too.

"Well," she said as we reached her car. "I guess I'll head home…Do you want a ride?"

"Um, that's okay. I drove here today; I'm parked right over there."  
>"Oh," she nodded. "Well, I guess this is-"<p>

"Oh my God, Ashley A. , we like, missed you so much!"

I turned around to see a bright red Lexus, containing the other three Ashleys pulling up right next to us.

"Ah! You guys are back!" Ashley A shrieked, running over to the car to give her best friends hugs.

"We've got so much to catch up on," Ashley B. squealed.

"Yeah, like, let's get going," Ashley Q. said.

"Ugh," Ashley T. said, looking over at Spinelli. "Like, what's _she _doing here?"

Ashley A. looked over at me. I could almost see the apology in her eyes as she said "Like, I have no clue. She just followed me to my car like some sort of pathetic wannabe Ashley."

"Pfft," I scoffed. "Who'd want to be like you anyway?"

"Whatever," Ashley B. said, rolling her eyes at me. "Follow us to the mall, Ashley A.. We need to start on our back to school wardrobe for the fall. Pink is so in right now."

"Yeah, I'll see you there," Ashley A. nodded.

"Hurry up!" Ashley Q. said as the girls sped away in their car.

Ashley looked at me. "So," she said. "Bye."

"Bye," I said softly.

Ashley A. gave me one last fleeting glance as she backed out of her spot and sped off after the other Ashleys.

I shook my head. Had I really been that stupid to think that Ashley and I could stay friends? I didn't mind too much, though, because I still had my true friends, the ones who have stayed loyal to me for years.


	36. Chapter 36

_T.J.'s POV_

I laid on my bed, absentmindedly tossing a baseball. It was nearly eleven on Saturday night, and I had just gotten back from hanging with the gang less than an hour ago. The six of us, plus Kirst and Lauren, went out to eat at a new steak restaurant, and then decided to go bowling. Vince was the only one who was any good at it, but we all had fun.

Now, though, as I laid in my room, I could only think of one thing: Myra.

I hadn't heard from her since the day she left for foster care. Her smile on her face when I told her that she would never have to return home again had made me melt, but still, I just hoped that she was being treated right wherever she was now…

"T.J.?" my mom said, opening my door and walking in with my dad. "We need to talk to you about something."

"Is this about that broken vase? Because let me just say that that was Becky last time she came to visit-"

"Er, no," my dad said. "But thanks for that."

"T.J.," my mother began. "Your father and I have been taking about adopting another child for awhile now. We've always wanted another child, but, well, at my age….Anyway, I just got off the phone this afternoon with a lady from the orphanage just outside town."

"Yeah?" I frowned. "Wait…am I getting a new brother or sister?"

"A sister," my mom smiled. "Her name is Myra. She's five years old."

I blinked. "What? Myra, as in-"

"Uh huh," she nodded.

I jumped off my bed. "That's amazing! When does she move in?"

"Not for another month," my dad smiled. "We need time to get everything ready for her."

"But you can go visit her," my mom told me. "Anytime you want until she's ready to move in."

I grinned. I had always wanted a little sister, after all…

…..

_One month later_

"Here's my present," Vince said, handing a spherical present to Myra.

It was the day that Myra had finally moved in with us, and to celebrate, my parents had thrown her a huge welcoming party.

Myra tore the paper off to reveal a brand new basketball.

"Wow," she breathed. "Thank you!"

"No problem," he grinned.

"You know, Myra," my dad said. "I used to be a pretty good ball player back in the day…"

"Way back in the day," Becky teased.

"How about you come shoot some hoops with your old man," my dad said, sticking his tongue out at his eldest daughter. "We have a hoop out back."

"Okay!" she said excitedly.

"She's adorable," Gretchen said as she watched Myra run out after my dad.

"Isn't she?" Spinelli grinned. "I can't believe she's you sister now, Teje."

"I know, isn't it great?" I said. "She drew me a picture before the party that said World's Best Big Brother."

"Aw," everyone said.

T.J. watched Myra through the window as she tossed the basketball in the air towards the net. He looked back at his friends.

The way he saw it, Myra was, just like all of them, proof that no matter how bad a situation may seem, no matter how hopeless you may feel at any given time, there was always something amazing waiting to blossom from it.

…

Well, that's it. Epilogue will be up shortly. Hope you enjoyed this fanfic and the entire series! Thanks so much for everyone who read, reviewed, favored, etc. You have mo idea how much your support means to me!


	37. Chapter 37

_Epilogue_

T.J. graduated high school with decent grades. He ended up getting a baseball scholarship it the University of Arkansas, where he majored in child development. After college, he became a fourth grade teacher, and eventually an elementary school principle. Him and Spinelli got married, and they had two children. A son, Mason, who was every bit as devious as T.J., but artsy like his mother, and a daughter, June, who was tough like Spinelli, but loyal like T.J. He kept a close relationship with Myra as she grew up. He was always very protective of her and would make sure that any boy she brought home got a stern talking to from him.

Spinelli managed to get into the University of Arkansas like T.J., though she was an art major. After she graduated college she opened her own studio where she not only sold her paintings, but held art classes for children to learn to paint. She loved her two children very much, as well as her husband, and though she never admitted it to anyone, each one of her paintings had a bit of them somewhere in its depths.

Gus did eventually make it to the military, but he soon found that he simply was not the army man that his father was, and so once he served his time, he withdrew. He decided to go to school to become a guidance counselor, because he knew more than anybody that sometimes you just needed someone to talk to. He got a job at that same school as T.J. Him and Lauren got married right after she finished school to become a nurse. They had one more child together, a boy, who they named Cody, who tried to be exactly like Gus. Sarah and Brent grew up to be healthy children. Sarah was very outspoken, and could get anyone's attention. Brent, despite being bound to a wheelchair, was very into sports. He watched them avidly and could tell you the statistics on any game, and even played wheelchair basketball himself.

Mikey and Kirst got married right out of high school. They both went to Arkansas State University. Kirst studied to become a chef, while Mikey was a drama major, though he ended up dropping out his junior year to take a job in a theatre group that reenacted some of the greatest works of the times, like Romeo and Juliet and Oedipus Rex. Him and Kirst tried for children for years, but soon discovered that they would be unable to conceive. They adopted a beautiful baby girl from Kenya, though, Avanya Haile, who they could tell even as an infant would have their appetites.

Gretchen went back to MIT, this time waiting until after she officially graduated high school. She also did not overload herself. She only took four classes each semester and made the soccer team. She majored in bio-engineering, and got a job fresh out of college working in a lab with some of the state's top scientists. Her and Vince married right after they graduated college. The couple had four children; three girls, Madelyn, Savannah and Michelle, and one boy, Trevor. Each one of her children were intelligent, but only Maddi was able to do calculus at age four like she was. Gretchen didn't care in the slightest, though.

Vince, after performing above everyone's standards at his track exhibition, was able to attend the University of Massachusetts, which was close enough to Gretchen that he could see her every weekend. After college he got offers to run for the country in the Olympics or even join the NBA, but he turned them all down. Instead he married Gretchen, and decided to open up his own sporting goods store. Being the owner of his own store gave him a lot of time to spend with his children, and he often let them play with the merchandise, teaching each one of them how to shoot three pointers before they were three years old.

The gang, even though they didn't see each other often, as they were now living in different areas, still made it a point to keep in touch. They sent Christmas cards and birthday presents, and talked on the phone weekly. And every year they would all pack up and drive back to Third Street for one week for a sort of reunion. Needless to say that all their children got along, and for that one week when they all saw each other they made the most of it by making sure they got into as much trouble they could manage. They're parents would simply exchange glances with the rest of the gang and agree that these children were exactly as they had been.


End file.
